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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25319191">Take these Wings and Learn to Fly: Part One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/allegrobard/pseuds/allegrobard'>allegrobard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Take these Wings and Learn to Fly [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Additional Tags to be updated, Angst, Campaign 1 (Critical Role), Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Friendships, Eventual Relationships, Explicit Language, Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Mostly Canon Compliant, Pre-Stream (Critical Role), Vox Machina Origins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 07:56:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>48,901</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25319191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/allegrobard/pseuds/allegrobard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Vax'ildan. Champion of the Raven Queen, Right Hand of the Tempest, Assassin, member of the Slayer's Take and the infamous Vox Machina.<br/>This is an exploration of emotional vignettes from the life and (primarily perspective) of our favorite rogue spanning both pre-stream and through the known end of his story. This is an exploration of all the things said, and not said- of the light that shines through in our darkest moments.</p><p>Part One of "Take These Wings and Learn to Fly", focused on Pre-Stream Content</p><p>Warning: Major Spoiler alerts for all things related to Campaign One of Critical Role. Includes direct dialogue from Vox Machina Origins and from the Web Series.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Take these Wings and Learn to Fly [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1850587</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Learn to Walk Away</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Author’s Note: <br/>*I've decided to split this work up into several sections of a series under the same title so that I can devote attention to each portion of the story without it being one obscenely long text. Plus hopefully this will make it easier to find which portion of Vax's story people are interested in. I'm planning on dividing it by Pre-Stream in the first, Through the Chroma Conclave in the Second, and Through the End in the Third.*</p><p>The characters, story arcs, world, etc are property of Critical Role and the fantastically creative cast thereof. Vax'ildan is the creative brainchild of Liam O'Brien. I make no claim to ownership and I only hope that I can do this story some justice.<br/>These characters have been so crucial to my own self-healing so the following vignettes reflect an introspective examination of character development and interpersonal relations within the group. While I attempted to follow canon details as much as possible from stream, comics, interviews, and more, there are some creative liberties taken, especially with regard to gaps in the story timeline prior to streaming.<br/>As an exploration of characters with adult themes, readers should be warned for discussions and mentions of violence, sexual conduct, trauma, PTSD and discussions of mental health, strong language, micro and macroaggressions, as well as scenes of other sensitive topics.<br/>However, for all the time spent exploring the darker side of life, there is light and love and laughter and hope that shines through these characters and resonates in each and every one of us. It’s easy to see characters as black and white, and while Vax may be a depressed disaster a lot of the time, he is also capable of great joy and hope and so much love.<br/>This story is for and from the life of Vax’ildan, the boy who sold his soul to save everyone else.</p><p>Thank you for your support!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vax and Vex in Syngorn.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u"><strong>Learn to Walk Away</strong></span><br/><br/>"..<em>.I'm tired of being what you want me to be, feeling so faithless, lost under the surface, I don't know what you're expecting of me, put under the pressure of walking in your shoes, every step that I take is another mistake to you...</em>" - "Numb (Acoustic)", performed by The Veer Union (Original Song by Linkin Park)</p><hr/><p><br/>“You will be raised <em>properly</em>, children. No blood of mine will be raised as peasants,” Syldor’s tone betrayed his disgust with passing through the dusty roads leading out from Byroden. Vax clung desperately to his sister’s hand as she watched out the window of their carriage in awe. The velvet plush cushions around them were as cold as their father’s disapproving gaze as he studied the twins before him.</p><p>They had done their best to wash up and to put on clean clothes, and their mother had braided their hair into tight, careful vines to keep their faces clear. Vax shifted uncomfortably as Syldor examined him, wishing desperately to be back in the safety of their mother’s arms. Vex’s eyes widened as she took in the gold embroidery and the opulence of their new situation. Vax wanted to share his sister’s optimism that this would be a fresh start for their lives, but he didn’t really want a fresh start.</p><p>The leather boots were stiff and tight and he longed to throw them out the window and run barefoot through the grass, to dodge between the hanging laundry on the line and get dirt on the starched white shirt. He had to focus on that image to keep the last fleeting moment of his mother out of focus- tears falling slowly, silently as she waved goodbye. He would see her again. This was their father<em>- he had to let them visit, right?</em> He <em>had</em> to have their best interests in mind or Mother never would have let them leave. Vax snuggled into his sister for comfort.</p><p>“We’re gonna be <em>nobles</em>, Vax,” She whispered, not daring to believe it truly as though she might wake up from the dream.</p><p>“You <em>are</em> noble born because you have my blood, and you will have my name,” Syldor interjected, “You are Vessar and in Syngorn that means a great deal. Your… <em>status</em> may be tainted from your mother, but that will be behind you now. You’ll do as I say and I will see that you are raised respectably, and that will be that.”</p><hr/><p>“Vax’ildan Vessar.”</p><p>Each syllable struck like a slap across the face, accusation and judgement rolled into a predetermined sentence. His upper lip twitched at a snarl before he closed his eyes settling the defensive rage in the pit of his stomach. Turning around slowly, Vax raised his chin, meeting the tutor’s eyes defiantly.</p><p>“Yes?” The question sounded innocent enough but the look in his eyes belied the escape plans already swirling in his mind as he mentally calculated how many steps it would take to the door.</p><p>“<em>What in the nine hells did you do</em>?” The older elven gentleman held up a parchment in his right hand, jabbing a finger at the signature at the bottom. Vax didn’t need to look at the document to know it was from their school- another warning letter surely about academic integrity or some equally meaningless standard the professors wanted to flaunt from their ivory towers. Whatever they were claiming he’d done, Vax reasoned there was no reason to defend himself. It was possible that he’d been caught again, cheating off of Vex’s answers. And even if he hadn’t actually committed whatever sin they’d pegged him for, there wasn’t anything he could say that would change their minds. From the day Vex and he had walked through the doors they’d been marked for failure. Ill-born. Bastards. Half-breeds. His existence was proof enough of his innate guilt. He would take the punishments doled out as always, and deal with the repercussions with their father, and that would be the end of it until the next incident. <em>Why bother fighting for their approval when that was never going to happen?</em> A brief moment of worry crossed his mind, wondering if the academy had finally sent word about the fight… <em>but it had been days now with no repercussion. </em></p><p>“You’ll have to be a bit more specific, sir, “ Vax quirked an eyebrow, partially curious to see what he’d been charged with this time, “Is it a letter commending my excellence in combat training? Have they finally decided to give up on teaching Abyssal?”</p><p>The tutor closed his eyes for a moment, breathing out heavily through his nostrils as he tried to contain his frustration with the young half-elf. In the brief few years he’d been tutoring Vex’ahlia and Vax’ildan, he’d seen his long brown hair take on more and more strands of gray as he tried to keep them on the right track. Their father couldn’t be bothered most days to guide them, and the task of keeping the twins on an acceptable social path fell to him. But no matter how many lessons on decorum he could provide and no matter how much he tried to teach them of the dangers of the world around them, nothing seemed to break through to the twins. Vex’ahlia was <em>by far</em> the better student and actually seemed to care about the future and her standing in their society, though she always had to have the last word. There was hope for her, if she would stop following her brother’s example. Vax’ildan was impertinent and impulsive. He had so much potential <em>if he would actually care</em>… His saving grace being that he would follow his sister to any end. Vex’ahlia’s only hope was to stop being like her brother, and Vax’ildan’s only hope was to be more like his sister. They were both intelligent but stubborn and spiteful-It made for frustrating tutoring encounters. Among other issues.</p><p>“It is a letter to your father,” The tutor began, “Informing him that you recently were caught brawling with other students. Given your track record thus far, they are putting you on notice that continued behavior will result in <em>your</em> <em>expulsion</em>. Do you understand?”</p><p>Vax clenched his fists at his side, “You don’t understand… They started…” He snapped, a short angry huff from his nostrils as he broke off.</p><p>His memory snapped back to the moment a few days ago, passing through the halls of the elven academy. After getting caught again cheating off of the notes Vex was passing him, they had been separated into different schedules. Even still, whenever Vex left her classroom, Vax was always already there, waiting to walk with her to the next class. They had learned from the beginning that walking alone made an easy target on their backs. At least together they could keep an eye all around.</p><p>Cutting through the wide-open training courtyard to avoid the crowd that tended to bunch up in the halls, the twins laughed amongst themselves and had nearly made it clear across when a voice had called out. And then another. The same voices that always seemed to find their way into his worst moments, taunting and poking at open wounds at all the wrong times. Vax had stopped in his tracks, his smile dropping instantly into a frustrated scowl. Tugging at his hand, Vex tried to urge him forward but Vax could feel every muscle in his body clenching as the noble-born elves began to taunt them. Vex called back her own rebuttal and began to walk away. She was always better at knowing when to not pick a fight.</p><p>To some extent it felt like his feet were moving of their own volition, but he knew he <em>wanted</em> this, as Vax turned back to face the three elves mocking their mother. They were taller, stronger, had better reputations. They could walk around and do anything they wanted with no repercussions. And if they wanted to, right here and now, they could pin him to the ground and beat him senseless for what he was about to do<em>. But they would have to catch him first</em>.</p><p>Some tension in his gut snapped as his hand flashed out to the dulled training knives still in the target at the edge of the courtyard. Confusion barely had a moment to cross the faces of his tormentors as they watched two dull training daggers slice across the air, catching the tunic of  the one in front and the second slamming the hilt into the temple of the one who’d called out first. Yelling amongst themselves Vax bounded forward- <em>one, two, three steps</em>, pushing off of the wall to roll between the three older boys and pop up in their blind spot in the confusion. Vax had managed to get in a few more quick blows before he was overpowered, their fists pummeling him as Vex screamed bloody murder trying to tear them off. The professors had broken up the fight within a few moments but it was going to be the hottest gossip for a while- <em>the rabid, half-breed boy had snapped and attacked a nobleman’s son</em>. Vax and Vex had managed to hide the incident from their father and tutor for almost two days before the letter arrived. They’d tried to intercept it, trying to keep it quiet. Vex had tried to bribe the servants to give them any deliveries first, but she couldn’t compete with their loyalty to her father. Vax had tried to steal the letter and had nearly gotten caught when their tutor arrived to read the contents of the sealed document.</p><p>“Don’t you understand? <em>Who</em> started the fight is irrelevant!” The tutor snapped, “The fact remains that <em>you were caught</em> fighting those boys and <em>you are at risk</em> of expulsion! Do you know how hard it was to get you and your sister into that school? <em>Do you even care?</em> The fact that your father had enough heart to bring you here to Syngorn to be raised <em>properly</em>, to give you the life and opportunities here, the fact that he didn’t leave you and your sister to fester in poverty… and <em>this</em> is how you show your thanks?”</p><p>“You want me to <em>thank</em> my father for taking me away from my mother, <em>who loved us</em>… to thank him for bringing us to this… this <em>hell hole</em> where everyone hates <em>that we</em> <em>exist</em>? You want me to be happy about <em>that</em>?” Vax’s eyes flashed darkly, digging in his heels to support himself.</p><p>“Do you listen to <em>nothing</em> I teach you? Yes, I’m sure your mother loved you. She wanted what’s best for you- and <em>what’s best for you is here in Syngorn</em>. What’s best for you is to get your education, to take your place in society and honor your family’s legacy. What’s best for you is to be <em>respectable</em> members of society and to have a future. You had no future in that backwater town. You are a Vessar by blood and by the gods you need to act like it! You can’t fight everyone you don’t like. <em>You need to learn to walk away.</em>”</p><hr/><p>When Syldor summoned Vax to his study later that evening, the twins had already been discussing their options for most of the afternoon. Any decision that affected one affected both of them- that was just a fact of life. Even getting separated in class, they refused to accept this separation really. Ever since they’d been taken from their mother, they’d promised to be by each other’s side. And with the potentiality of expulsion on the table they needed to have a serious conversation about what that might mean if Vex was still able to get an education. No matter how much spitfire and venom she would spew at their peers of her own volition, Vex wanted them to accept her. She was top of their class in several subjects. If it were not for her blood status, Vex would have been the shining start of the academy. But she would always be second best to a pure blood elf. It pained him to see how good she could be… and how it would never be enough for their professors, for their tutor, for their father. He would pick a fight with any and all of them if it meant that Vex could be recognized for her talents. They had discussed multiple options before and even made extensive back-up plans, but this was the first time that they had a deadline to decide. If Syngorn wanted their paths to diverge, they would have to make a choice.</p><p>They walked into Syldor’s study side by side, letting the scent of hot wax, parchment, and smoldering candles waft over them. Vex liked the scent- like success and deals.  Vax just found it stuffy. Their father beckoned them to step in further over the threshold without turning around in his tall backed chair facing his desk. Tentatively the twins took another few steps into the room, holding each other’s hands tightly as reassurance that they were not alone.</p><p>“I do believe I only requested <em>your </em>presence, Vax’ildan,” Syldor muttered, slowly turning around with an arched brow to face his children, “But then I suppose you have <em>never</em> been able to follow instructions. So… Vex’ahlia, you’ll have your part in this?”</p><p>“He was protecting mother,” she spat out, “I was <em>always</em> a part of this.”</p><p>“Very well…” Syldor templed his fingers, pressing them against his lips as he mused. He reached around to pull the parchment from his desk, skimming it over again before returning his gaze to meet Vax’s eyes. “Have you anything to say for yourself?”</p><p>It took Vax a moment to gather his words, breathing heavily as he tried to swallow his anger. Even then with a plan in mind, the words spilled forward in a jumble, lacking any of the elegance he’d hoped for and devolving into a guttural refrain of his continued frustrations.</p><p> “Ever since we’ve been here they treat us like… <em>like fucking cockroaches</em>.  You know that, right? They look down on us and spit at us. No matter what we do, no matter how good we try to be, no matter how smart Vex is… They won’t let us…live. <em>It’s not fair</em>. It’s not right. So yeah, I stood my ground and I fought back when they wouldn’t let it go. <em>Is that so wrong?</em> You don’t know the things they say about our mother. I couldn’t… I wouldn’t let them get away with that. And even still they made it <em>my fault</em>. My fault that they were being fucks… I can’t… it’s…” His voice rose and fell in desperation, trailing off unable to find the right words.</p><p>When he was talking to Vex words came easily and he could articulate most of his anxiety and heartache. But he never knew how to approach their father. The man who said he was their father. The man who barged in when they were eight years old and decided to take them away from their comfortable life with their mother. The man who never seemed to give a damn about what they thought or felt or wanted…</p><p>“Language,” Syldor’s frown deepened as he examined the twins. Vax couldn’t help but shrink instinctively under the gaze, feeling every microscopic imperfection magnified.</p><p>Vex stepped in to fill the silence. “<em>You</em> would have fought back if they called you the things they call us. If we didn’t fight back they would have felt like they were right, like they could continue to walk all over us. We’ve been here in Syngorn for six years, father. <em>Six years</em>. You told us it would get better with time. You said we would learn how to behave and be respectable members of society. We’ve learned, we’ve listened to the lessons and the rules and no matter what, they won’t let us be a part of this society. We’ve gone to this academy for three years now. And in three years, no matter how hard I study, no matter how good my results are, they see me as second rate. No one can out shoot me. I read languages better than anyone. I have top marks in all of my classes. It’s not fair. It’s not right. We can’t keep letting them treat us like this. We can’t just keep taking everything they pile on us. <em>It’s too much</em>. You told us we were noble born- that’s why you came to bring us here. You wanted us to be proper. There’s nothing proper about being treated like shit every day.”</p><p>There was silence for a moment filling the void between them like water slowly rising to drown them. Vex had never cursed at their father- she was the proper one. Vax had cursed at their father before and he half anticipated another sharp cuff to his ears for his impudence, but the blow never came. The physical sting would have been better honestly. Stern silence filled the space between breaths as they stated back, challenging the status. Eventually a hideous chuckle burbled up from Syldor’s chest, rising to echo through the room and to ricochet around in their minds for years to come. The dark laughter struck across their skin, a thousand shards of shattered hopes of support. Any chance that their father might have lent his backing to his children vanished in flames as Syldor shook his head slowly.</p><p>“You lasted longer than I thought you would, truth be told,” His face seemed darker, though Vax couldn’t tell if it was truly Syldor’s expression or if it was just the tunnel vision he felt taking hold of his thoughts. “You may be Othlir, but you bear my blood and my name. Three years is a long time to survive the Academy as Othlir. It’s not your fault really, the world is cold at times. It doesn’t cater to your wants or needs. Society will not change its ways to appease you. Learn that lesson now. Do you know how many of my peers and colleagues were betting against you? Even I had my doubts, truth be told... If you cannot hold your peace, there is nothing more to say or to be done. Vex’ahlia, you will finish up your time at the academy, and perhaps without your brother’s influence you can stay out of trouble. Then we will find as suitable a match as we can- there are some mostly respectable families as of yet that will tolerate Othlir.  Vax’ildan, you will make your choice here. If you cannot contain yourself and be civilized then you effectively choose to forfeit all of the training and learning we’ve offered you. It’s shameful. You bring shame on yourself, on me, on our name…You can choose to get yourself together and turn this around. Or, the Syngornian army could always use more soldiers. You’re about old enough to enlist soon. Perhaps that would teach you to mind your place since clearly you pay me no mind.”</p><p>Vax’s nostrils flared as his lip twitched up into a snarl. He wanted to scream and lash out. <em>This was wrong</em>. This wasn’t fair. This was too much. Even now when they needed him to support them, their father was more concerned with his reputation and status than with what was happening to his children. Worse even, he was threatening to split them up. Vax felt the scream die in his throat as he opened his mouth to respond and nothing came out. He couldn’t choke out the venomous words he was thinking. Everything felt too heavy. Vex stepped between him and their father as he blinked rapidly in disbelief. She put herself squarely in the middle, shielding him from Syldor’s ever piercing gaze as he tried to collect himself.</p><p>“Father,” she began. Although Vax couldn’t see her face, the word came out razor sharp, cutting into the tension smothering the office, “You’re a very clever man and you’re right. There is a lesson learned here. There is a choice to be made here. We <em>humbly </em>apologize for the <em>inconveniences</em> we’ve brought upon your household, and we’ll see to it that we make this right, for everyone involved.”</p><p>Syldor’s brow furrowed suspiciously as he examined the twins, Vax looking at his sister as though she’d completely lost her mind. Vex’s face was unreadable stone, mirroring the same expression their father wore so often walking into negotiations. She had watched him for years, trying to learn the art of negotiation and debate from observation. Syldor had never seemed to notice how she followed him like a shadow, but she’d perfected her mimicry in silence regardless. Seconds passed as an eternity as they waited for a response of any kind. Vex turned to her brother, meeting his eyes and nodding nearly imperceptibly. Wordlessly he understood her intention, and he bit his tongue to keep the unstable peace. Vax could feel his pulse pounding double speed as his head began to throb from keeping everything contained. Another outburst would only make it worse. If anyone could parlay with their father, Vex was their best chance. Vax felt himself fading in and out of awareness as the silence crept on, slowly zoning out to avoid the feeling of being trapped.</p><p>“Dismissed,” Syldor’s whispered so softly that Vax barely heard him. The accompanying nod was tense, begrudgingly offering them a final chance to redeem themselves for their transgressions. Syldor’s hands came up, slowly rubbing his temples as he looked away from the twins. Vex pivoted on her heel immediately, spinning out of the room and catching Vax by the arm to drag him along. As they passed through the heavy wooden doorway, Vex leaned in close.</p><p>“<em>We’re getting the fuck out</em>.”</p><p>Vax nodded, knowing that the moment had come that they had planned years before as a precaution. They were going to leave it all behind. Vax smiled ironically to himself, thinking about Vex’s last appeal. A choice had been made and lessons had been learned. <em>Perhaps not the lessons intended</em>… For the first time though, Vax felt there truly was a power in being able to walk away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Keep Moving</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vex and Vax first leave Syngorn.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> <strong>Keep Moving</strong> </span>
</p><p>“…So I packed my things and ran, far away from all the trouble I had caused with my two hands, alone we traveled on nothing but a shadow, we fled far away…” -"Mountain Sound", Of Monsters and Men</p><hr/><p><br/>Vax leaned against the cold stone wall, feeling his pulse throbbing in his ears drowning out the frantic gasps as they tried to catch their breath. Vex grinned up at him, clutching her bag white-knuckle tight as they hid in the shadow of the external walls of Syngorn. To some extent, Vax hadn’t actually been sure they would be able to pull it off. Sneaking out of their house was one thing- but maneuvering through the twisting, arboreous streets of the city without getting caught… <em>that was a feat in and of itself</em>. They had planned, prepared, and bided their time for nearly two weeks after the discussion in Syldor’s study. Two weeks of keeping up appearances while Vax skimmed supplies and Vex prepared routes. Two weeks of pretending to care about their studies and pretending to make amends with their peers. Two weeks of pooling their allowances to budget out expenses. Two weeks of arranging for one final escape.</p><p>Vax held up his hand, counting down their next movement to be timed with the next rotation of the guards along the top of the wall. <em>Three, two, one…</em> both twins bounded forward, keeping as low as possible to skirt along the edge of the road. Hoods up, leaning into the sprint, Vax and Vex darted into off and into the tree line. Vax kept peering over his shoulder, half expecting to see a guard catch notice of them as they ran. The danger never seemed to solidify into reality. Maybe they had gotten lucky. Maybe the city was glad to see them go. Vax pushed on, feet pounding in time with his heartbeats. Vex kept pace as the twins wove in-between the trees, trying to vary their patterns and footsteps to throw off any direct trail. They’d rehearsed the pattern, planning for maximum distraction while knowing it might only buy them a few extra minutes if they had someone on their trail. But even a few extra minutes could be the difference between success and the devastating failure of being returned to Syldor’s judgement.</p><p>Vax grinned half-heartedly, silently wishing he could see the look on Syldor’s face when he found them missing, when he found their letter. Vex had wanted to leave without any indication, but Vax needed to get closure. Vex had relented on the condition that it allowed them to have the last word in the perpetual argument of their lives. He wasn’t sure if it counted as closure if he wasn’t there to see the reaction, but at least he could say that he’d tried.</p><p>
  <em>Syldor,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t come looking for us. We are upholding our agreement to make things right by removing the clear issue- our continued stay in Syngorn. We will no longer be a blight on your reputation or household- we renounce your name. You can keep it. Let’s be honest, you never really wanted us to have it in the first place. You never wanted to be our father, so consider this our favor to you. <strike>Fuck you and your city.</strike> Keep your peace and let us have ours. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Good Riddance,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Vex’ahlia and Vax’ildan<br/><br/></em>
</p><p>Vex had tried to cross out his contribution to the letter, but Vax had a sneaking suspicion that she hadn’t fully crossed it out. Vax left the phrasing up to her otherwise. He wanted to be proud of the letter, but it was a strangely numbing feeling to actually write out the words. Vax had sat there braiding Vex’s hair as a few silent tears rolled down her cheek after sealing the letter. It had to be worse for her, he reasoned. He’d never really wanted to be there, but it was everything Vex had ever wanted. And she was leaving it all behind to support him. <em>To support both of them</em>. There couldn’t be one without the other- Vex and Vax, the twins unbroken and unbreakable.</p><p>Vex pivoted to the right, redirecting their course towards a winding branch of the main path. A few hundred feet off they could make out the vague outline of two horses against the night sky. Vax breathed a sigh of relief, feeling some of the tension uncoil in his chest. Vex had been in charge of securing horses for their long ride. She’d claimed Syldor needed the horses left outside the city boundaries for riders to switch out without having to stop. Vax struggled to believe that the ruse would actually work, but apparently with well placed gold and good bartering bad cover stories became reliable. He shook his head, smiling to himself as they kept running. They would be okay for a while- he’d packed just the essentials and as much gold as he could sack away. Between that and the horses, if they could stay out of sight and stick to their plan... this might succeed.</p><p>As they crept up to the horses, Vex pressed forward first, reaching out a hand slowly to calm the slight shifting unease at their approach. Vax kept a look out as she inspected the saddles, tightening a few straps before motioning for him to join. They hadn’t said a single word since slipping out of the window back at Syldor’s house, but they communicated as a well-practiced team. Even as small children they had been able to instinctively know what the other meant, making them a holy terror for their mother to try and wrangle. That skill had only improved with time, now allowing them to navigate their escape with hand signals and quick facial reactions in a language all their own. In many ways it was easier to talk to Vex like this- he didn’t have to struggle to find the right words to express what he was thinking. She just knew. She knew how anxious he was, and how excited. And she knew how disappointed he was that they couldn’t make a beeline back home to Byroden. That would have been the first place Syldor would have gone to search if he decided to follow up. Eventually they would get back to their mother. <em>Eventually they would get home</em>.</p><p>For now, they would ride north and west, cutting through the Verdant Expanse towards the Emerald Outpost. There they could resupply, throw off any trails, and redirect course. It was a plan they had debated and rehashed until Vax had wanted to tear up the map. But it was a workable plan at least- they had a chance. Vex strapped her bags and her bow to the back of her horse as Vax clambered up onto his own. <em>One step at a time</em>, he reminded himself, steadying his breathing. There would be time to figure out next steps. There would be time to redefine himself eventually. In this moment, there was only one thing that mattered- <em>keep moving.</em></p><p>He was no longer Vax’ildan Vessar. He was just Vax. Just Vax’ildan. Everything he had, everything he needed was with him as he looked over at his sister. Whatever the world would throw at them, they could handle it, just as they had always done. <em>One foot in front of the other</em>. This was a fresh start, a new opportunity. This was a chance to be someone he wanted to be for the first time since leaving Byroden.</p><p>Vex glared at him over her shoulder as she nudged her mount forward.</p><p><em>Are you coming, Scrawny?</em> Her eyes seemed to goad him into movement.<br/><br/>He rolled his eyes in response, kicking into a faster pace. The moonlight filtered in silvered speckles through the tree cover, dappling the ground before them in spectral light as they passed. Every sound seemed to freeze Vax’s heart with momentary panic that they’d been found, but the night cloaked them protectively as they rode on through the early hours and into the morning. As the purple pink clouds began to rise at the edge of the horizon, just barely visible through the trees, Vax allowed himself to breathe easily for the first time all night. Through some luck, they’d gotten this far. There was no going back now.</p><hr/><p>The firelight flickered between them, casting long shadows against the stone outcropping they had settled into. It was a lucky find, Vax insisted, although Vex swore it was pure skill. The longer they had spent traversing the Verdant Expanse, the more Vex had proven her skills as an outdoorsman.</p><p>“You would have picked this up too if you ever paid attention on the hiking trips,” Vex tossed a broken twig at her brother across the fire. Vax shrugged, leaning out of the way of her half-hearted projectile.</p><p>“Yeah, but think about how <em>boring</em> we would be if we had both paid attention to what kind of tree bark makes you itchy? Gods, <em>can you imagine</em>? We could talk about animal tracks like a couple of nerds.” He bantered back.</p><p>“You’re just mad because I spotted that fox before you did,” Vex scoffed, leaning forward to adjust one of the logs.</p><p>“<em>So</em>…” Vax started after a few moments. It felt wrong to disturb the gentle, crackling quiet, but there were questions that needed to be asked. They had been traveling through the woods for almost two weeks, moving in the least convenient patterns to throw off any trackers.</p><p>“<em>So</em> when are we getting back to city life?” Vex finished the question for him, brushing a hand through her hair as she redid the braid. “I mean… I guess we can start heading to the Emerald Outpost more directly now since no one seems to have found us. That’s assuming they’re even looking for us…”</p><p>“So we can get back to civilization?” Vax chuckled, “Because no offense, but I don’t really think I’m suited to this whole hunting for my dinner thing. Although you… you’ve taken to it like a proper beastie there Stubby!”</p><p><br/>“<em>Watch it there</em>, I could always miss and shoot you… <em>on accident of course,</em> dear brother.” Vex rolled her eyes. They sat in silence for a moment before she muttered under her breath, “But gods a bath would be glorious.”</p><p>Vax grinned to himself and leaned back against his bag. Their horses shifted nearby, a now comforting background noise to their campsite. While he would be glad to get back to a city to restock and get a proper new direction, there was a beautiful simplicity in camping. Now that they had begun to relax somewhat, not constantly fearing that every rustling noise was going to be a scout from Syngorn, he could appreciate the freedom of their situation. For the first time in his life, there was no one to tell him no. Well, Vex could, but he wasn’t obligated to listen. Watching the turning of the day as the sun rolled across the sky and the moon reclaimed its position was suddenly calming rather than just another reminder of a day wasted. They might not have been moving in the most direct path, but for the first time, at least he felt like they were actually moving towards something of their own choosing. Their travels weren’t without some dangers. Vex had been careful about keeping an ear and an eye out for any signs of predators and she’d diverted them around a wolf den a few days ago. The nice thing about predators in the woods though, Vax reasoned, is that you knew their intentions. They would attack to feed and protect themselves. Predators in cities you usually couldn’t identify until it was too late, and you might never know their motives.  </p><p>“What will we do when we get there?” Vex arched an eyebrow at her brother as she finished braiding her hair.</p><p>“Well, we’ll sleep in an inn instead of on the fucking ground,” Vax laughed, “And then I suppose we’ll figure it out, yeah?”</p><p>“A <em>real</em> bed,” Vex sighed dreamily, mockingly kicking her feet up to copy Vax’s stance, “ And then we’ll bullshit our way through. Yeah, <em>great plan</em>, brother. I suppose we keep moving once we get what we need? Staying in one place could get dangerous.”</p><p>Vax nodded, although he wasn’t sure if she could see the motion. “We’ll get a chance to travel a bit. That’ll be nice, right?”</p><p>“Sure… we’ll call it traveling instead of avoiding detection. Vacation sounds a lot nicer than fugitives.”</p><p>“We’re not fugitives!” Vax pouted, “We’re just… absconding from renounced responsibilities in order to get a clean start.”</p><p>“Ooh, big words there brother. I didn’t know you had an actual vocabulary in that brain of yours! It never gets any proper use!”</p><p>“Oi, fuck off, Stubby.” The twins both laughed honestly for the first time in days as they settled in for the evening. Vex nodded off first with Vax sitting up to keep an eye over the darkened campground. As the embers burned low Vax tucked his knees up to his chest, trying to comfort himself. He didn’t want to wake Vex up- she needed the sleep. He couldn’t fight back the sense of uselessness out in the woods. He wanted to protect his sister and make sure she was taken care of, but out here he was out of his depths. At least getting back to a city he would be back in his element. Among the trees and long overgrown hunting paths he was slow and cumbersome, and mostly just provided background banter to prevent the slow onset of insanity. It was an unsettling gnawing feeling not knowing how to help and he silently cursed himself for not paying attention more. Things would be better back in the city. They could disappear there.</p><hr/><p>“That’ll be five silver there love,” The shopkeep smiled down at Vex, holding the bag of fruits in her other hand. Vex tapped a finger against her cheek, a sly grin creeping across her face as she raised an eyebrow.<br/><br/>“You just told the gentleman before me that it would be <em>three silver</em> for the same fruit,” She said innocently enough, but the look in her eyes gave away the steel behind the words, “ I’d <em>almost</em> think you were up-charging me there, but I’m sure an <em>honest</em> woman like yourself would never do that.”<br/><br/>Vax rolled his eyes, silently wishing that Vex hadn’t tried to haggle with <em>every</em> single merchant they had visited. He could appreciate the benefit of paying less for the goods they needed, but at some point he wondered if it was really worth the time spent. They had been arguing back and forth with one man about the sale price of that fox pelt she’d brought in for nearly forty minutes because she refused to take no for an answer.<br/><br/>Vax took a mental inventory of the items they had already acquired and the gold they still had in their possession. It was certainly better than most runaways, Vax figured, but it wouldn’t last them very long. Vex might delay the inevitable with bargains and selling the occasional pelt, but they would have to consider future options. Inns were expensive. Food was more expensive than it ought to be. Even keeping their horses at the Inn cost money. Vax reasoned they could sell the horses if it came down to that, and he doubted Vex would argue. She was more concerned with value anyway. She was the one who insisted on getting one room and splitting their meal to cut costs. But eventually he would have to consider their financial choices, including the less savory options.<br/><br/>“Three silver and you have a deal!” Vex was beaming as she walked away from the clearly exasperated merchant. Vax chuckled, impressed by how well she always seemed to come out of any negotiation. Vex pulled a small red fruit out of the burlap bag and began to munch happily as they walked back towards the inn.<br/><br/>“You make yourself memorable,” Vax elbowed her in the ribs as they passed through the crowded streets. He kept towards the side, staying mostly out of the way as they moved around a group of people surrounding a street performer with a lute.<br/><br/>“You’re just jealous that you can’t negotiate a better price,” Vex stuck out her tongue, now stained purplish from the innards of the fruit.<br/><br/>“No, I’m just noting that we’ve been in the city for less than 48 hours and I think every shop keeper here has a mental note to avoid you like the plague,” Vax stuck his tongue back at her in return.<br/><br/>“So we’ll find another city where they don’t know me. And hopefully they have better deals,” Vex took another bite out of the fruit, turning her nose up. “For now, we feast!” Vex tossed the bag over to her brother, grinning broadly at him as she tried to catch him off guard. Vax caught the parcel with one hand, not breaking eye contact.<br/><br/>“I’ll save it for the road,” he smirked back, enjoying her frustration at a foiled plan. “You wanted to see the mountains more, right?”<br/><br/>“Oh, next destination already? We just got here,” Vex pouted, folding her arms across her chest as Vax shrugged.<br/><br/>“Got what we needed, right? Time to go. It’s not time to rest yet. Gotta get used to moving now,” his tone softened. It was an adjustment for both of them- not being able to really let down their guard. Even if it was unlikely that they were still being followed, they couldn’t afford to be complacent yet. Two young half-elves bartering with everyone was probably a memorable sight, and he wanted to be as invisible as possible for a while. Moving on would be safer. Cities could be a safe haven- a place to blend in among the hundreds of other faces drifting through the crowds. Cities could be the easiest way to hide in plain sight, as long as they didn’t make waves. And it was a little late for that here. He didn’t want to leave, but the side-eye glances Vex got as they passed one of her earlier bartering partners was enough to solidify in his mind that this was the right choice. The more time they spent on the road the more Vax was beginning to understand where the flight response was as valuable, if not more so than the fight response. He couldn’t fight all of the disgruntled vendors of this city. He couldn’t fight his father’s men off. He couldn’t fight his reputation or his past. But he sure as hell could run from it. Staying in motion meant staying safe- <em>meant keeping Vex safe</em>. Vax wasn’t quite sure what it was that he wanted yet, other than to go home someday. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go. But the one thing he was sure of was that anything that kept Vex safe was the best thing to do.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A Trade of Sorts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vax begins exploring the difficulties of learning to be an effective thief.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning: This chapter includes allusion to a situation involving underage dubious consent to sexual favors in the third vignette out of the four in this chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong><span class="u">A Trade of Sorts</span></strong><br/><br/>"...I'm hanging by a thread and I'm feeling like I'll fall, I'm stuck here in between these shadows of my yesterday, I want to get away, I need to get away..." - "Back Against the Wall", Cage the Elephant</p><hr/><p>Vax looked down at the rolled leather package in his palm, his emotions jumbled and swirling in the pit of his stomach. It was innocuous enough- no one walking by would guess that he’d just purchased a set of lock picks. He barely believed it himself. Tucking the kit into his back pocket, Vax made a beeline to catch back up with his sister across the square. He hadn’t told her his plan yet- he wasn’t entirely sure how she would react. He wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to go through with it either for that matter. Vex was scowling, her fists shoved deep into her own pockets as she leaned against the side of the shop.<br/><br/>“Bad deal?” Vax murmured, trying to keep his voice soft in case she was in as much of a bad mood as she looked.<br/><br/>“The bastard didn’t even want to entertain the deal!” Vex spat, shuffling forward and bumping her head into Vax’s shoulder in defeat. He nodded, pulling her in for a hug as she shook with frustration, muttering complaints. Now wasn’t a good time to ask her advice. They’d had a string of bad luck the last week or so and everything that could go wrong seemed to do so. One of the horses had been picked off by some kind of creature in the night, their gold was running dangerously low, and they were out of medical supplies after Vex had to patch him up after getting infected wandering through some poisonous plants. His leg still itched something fierce from where the infection had blistered up and it gave him one more reason why cities were safer to hide in. He hated making her worry about him so much, although Vex mostly displayed her concern through mumbling insults and various forms of profanity at him.<br/><br/>They’d stopped at the Byways Cross, just south of Kymal to restock on medical supplies and to try and trade a few furs Vex had procured. They weren’t the usual big game she liked to go after- ever since the horse was dragged off Vax had refused to let her hunt alone. He was good at being quiet and it was easy enough for him to tag along as a back up for safety. But that was, unfortunately how he’d wandered into the poison vines and derailed her hunting trip. Vex had scolded him for days afterwards about checking his surroundings and being more aware of what he was doing. In his defense, Vax had tried to argue, he was very perceptive, but it’s difficult to avoid dangers that you don’t know are dangers.</p><p>“So <em>this guy</em> didn’t want the furs- we’ll find someone else we can sell them to,” Vax said soothingly, rubbing a small circle between her shoulder blades. He knew how devastating it was to feel like the one skill you could offer wasn’t enough. He was doing better at learning to control his emotions and keep everything suppressed, but Vex seemed to be taking the opposite approach of letting herself be more open.</p><p>“On the bright side,” Vax leaned back slightly to reach into his bag under his cloak, “I have a small surprise!” He pulled out a fresh loaf of crispy bread, the crust still warm to the touch, just beginning to flake. He’d picked it up after his own purchase, and still wasn’t sure which he felt more guilty over. Watching Vex grin a bit at the fresh bread though, Vax decided this, at least, was definitely worthwhile.</p><p>“<em>That</em> smells delicious,” Vex grabbed at the bread, tearing a small chunk off to alleviate some of her frustrations. Vax let her take it, keeping an eye out on their surroundings. No one was watching them in particular, but he still wanted to be sure. He didn’t have the silver pieces for the bread when he had seen the baker rolling by with a handcart. And at one point, he thought he was above it. But it was <em>so easy</em> to snag a small loaf off of the side of the cart while the Baker was debating prices with another customer. It would have been so easy to grab a second, but Vax had shuffled back into the crowd as soon as he’d secured the first loaf, anxious about being caught. No one had noticed. No one had seemed to care. And such a simple action would have such a good benefit for his sister and he… Maybe pilfering a little here and there wasn’t such a bad thing. Maybe he could look at this as a good first test of his skill rather than an impulsive reaction.</p><p>“This town is shitty,” Vex mumbled to no one in particular as she chewed at the slightly steaming hunk of bread.</p><p>“Lots of towns are shitty, and have shitty people,” Vax agreed.</p><p>“It fucking sucks,” Vex seemed to be returning to herself as they walked away from the tanner’s shop. With each step she seemed a little less depressed.</p><p>“It does,” Vax agreed, “ But maybe we try to make it suck a little less, yeah? Maybe not everyone has to suck?”</p><p>“Wishful thinking darling, but it’s a nice thought,” Vex sighed, putting the rest of the bread into her own bag after offering a chunk to her brother.</p><p>“I refuse to accept that there are only shitty people. There may be a lot of them, but there has to be good people too,” Vax smiled a bit, hip-checking Vex to try and get her to smile back.</p><p>“Sure, there are as many good people as unicorns- probably a handful somewhere far, far away. In the meantime, we’re stuck with the shitty ones,” she sighed, looking a bit dejected.</p><p>“Maybe the shitty ones can be useful in their own ways,” Vax started uncertainly. He glanced around, checking that no one seemed to be paying them any mind. As they moved towards the edge of town under the mid-afternoon sun, it seemed to be clear all around. “Maybe they owe us a little?”</p><p>Vex raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to the side as she examined her brother. Vax wiped his hands on the side of his cloak, trying to ignore the anxiousness churning in his stomach. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to justify his proposal to Vex or to himself anymore. He’d been thinking about their options for a while, and thinking about ways he could be useful. His purpose, he’d decided some time ago, was to make sure Vex stayed safe until they got home. And part of keeping Vex safe meant making sure they had food and shelter and they didn’t get dragged off by the terrifying creatures that apparently stalked the night. Maybe it would be safer to try and stay in inns for a while, but that required gold. Vax knew his strengths- perhaps they weren’t as useful as tracking prey or haggling for good prices, but he’d gotten very good at going unnoticed. He’d gotten very good at being quick and quiet and lucky. And all of those leant themselves very nicely to the ability to pilfer some gold and goods along the way… just to make ends meet of course.</p><p>“How do you propose they be <em>useful</em>?” Vex finally asked, seemingly having read through his nerves. Vax pulled the small leather pouch out from his pocket, passing the lock picking kit over to her for inspection.</p><p>“Maybe they can sponsor some of our travels?” Vax said quietly. Part of him felt guilty about the idea of stealing from strangers, still imagining his mother’s potential disappointment if she ever found out. Part of him felt completely justified. He was only doing what needed to be done to keep them safe. He would only intend to steal from those who clearly had enough and could afford to lose a little bit. It wasn’t really that bad. It was just a means of getting by. It was a trade of sorts- one of the oldest professions anyways. Vex could practice at being a hunter and he would make his trade in the redistribution of goods and gold.<br/><br/>"Color me intrigued there, brother, if not a bit surprised," Vex smirked before shaking her head slightly and tearing back into the bread. It was a new course of action, but maybe it was the change they needed to get back on course. </p><hr/><p>Vax chewed on the inside of his cheek, frustrated with how long this was taking. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy the first few times- hence why he’d been determined to start practicing on <em>easy</em> targets. The tools felt tiny and flimsy in his hands, like they might break if he twisted too hard in any direction. He knew they were designed to withstand some pressure, but that logic didn’t fully dissuade the nerves. Vax gripped the picks lightly between his fingertips, trying to keep as loose as possible so as to not jam the lock accidentally. This didn't feel like an easy target anymore. </p><p>Pivoting his wrist ever so slightly, Vax tilted his head closer to the lock. It shouldn’t have been that difficult to pick the lock to a storage shack on the edge of town, but it was a steeper learning curve than he’d anticipated.  Minutes passed in silent panic as Vax wondered if he was actually capable of doing this, or if this was all an extended lesson in why he was going to fail at yet another thing. As the lock finally clicked into place, Vax beamed triumphantly at the door, half expecting it to swing open now as a reward. Hurriedly he put the tools back into the leather rolled pouch and then into his pocket to keep them safe. Wiping the sweat off of his palms, Vax creaked the door open ever so slightly checking what, if anything, he’d gained access to. The shack was maybe ten feet wide from end to end, and while he wasn’t expecting a major pay off, he was still hopeful. Really this had been about getting in the practice so that he knew how to do it. The man who’d sold him the kit had shown him the basics, but had imparted the wisdom that it was a skill that would come with time and use. Really, Vax just thought the man wanted to get away before anyone saw he was trading in illicit goods, like lock pick kits.</p><p>The shack was mostly empty- a few sacks of grain and some barrels of ale that had been stored for later usage. Vax poked and prodded around, checking every nook and cranny for anything useful he might have missed. There was a dual sense of exhilaration at his success, and disappointment at not being rewarded with anything useful. But at least it was a step in the right direction. If he could pick this lock, he could pick another one. And eventually he would get good at it and they would be set. He could get enough gold to keep Vex comfortable, and maybe they could get a nice gift to bring back to their mother. This would all be worthwhile.</p><hr/><p>When Vax returned to camp that evening it was far later than he’d planned. Vex stoked the flames gingerly, her eyes rimmed red with exhaustion as she scanned the foliage for any signs of movement. Vax paused, hesitant to face her even now. His head buzzed slightly from the firewater and his limbs felt heavy and ungainly, each footstep falling harder than he meant to. Everything ached, phantom fingers still imprinted on his hips. Eyes downcast, Vax stepped forward into the dull light of their camp, startling Vex as she pivoted to face him. Her eyes narrowed accusingly as she scanned over his visage in the flickering shadows where he refused to meet her eyes.</p><p>“You’re late, Scrawny,” she stated simply, still looking for any indication of what could have delayed him from their initial meeting time. Her eyes caught on a small satchel he hadn’t left with. “You know if you were gone much longer I would have had to go looking for you,” she yawned, relaxing somewhat as Vax eased himself down to sit across the fire.</p><p>Vax inhaled sharply as he lowered himself to sit, feeling a stinging pain still from his backside. Gritting his teeth he tried to ignore the wave of confusion and guilt that threatened to over take him now that he was back to a safe space. He’d done what needed to be done and he would do it again as long as it meant Vex was taken care of. <em>That was worth anything</em>.</p><p>“I got a little caught up with some… complications, Stubby, but I’ve got some good things,” his voice was more ragged than he thought it was and caught in his throat as he tried to speak. He could still feel the echoes of his desperate cries for mercy… and for release. A red flush sunk over his face as he buried his face into the satchel to avoid looking at his sister. Digging through the burlap sack he pulled out a loaf of bread and ripped a portion off before offering it to his sister who shook her head. “I picked up some rations and…” he pulled out a small leather pouch, tossing it over the flames to land near Vex, “I scored some decent gold.”</p><p>Vex raised a curious eyebrow at her brother, her hand stretching down to inspect the pouch. Turning it upside down gold coins clattered out in a small pile, glinting in the firelight. Her eyes widened hungrily as her fingers flicked through the coins, counting faster than Vax ever could.</p><p>“47 gold?” She looked up sharply, the look of exhaustion temporarily replaced with excitement, “ We could stay in an inn again tomorrow with a proper bed!”</p><p>Vax smiled despite himself. <em>Seeing her happy was worth any cost</em>. Silently he wished he hadn’t needed to pick up the additional rations and could have given her the full amount, but it was probably safer this way. Food was never a bad investment and it would keep them going for a few more days if they wanted to move onto the next town.</p><p>“Hold up,” Vex’s grin turned to a frown as she processed the conversation in a somewhat sleep deprived state, “You said you got caught up with complications… <em>what kind of complications</em>? Did you get caught? Do we need to move tonight?”</p><p>“Nah, it’s fine,” Vax dismissed her concerns as he ran a hand through his hair, “It just didn’t go the way I was expecting… Everything is okay. <em>We’re safe.”</em> He wasn’t entirely sure if he was trying to reassure Vex or himself. Vex slowly nodded, seeming to take his word for it as she pushed herself onto her side and stretched out, wrapping her cloak around her. Vax realized she’d spread out their bedrolls on her side of the fire, so their backs would be up against a large oak tree for some level of protection. He couldn’t quite convince his legs to push up and bring himself over to go to sleep properly. He'd gotten very good at keeping his emotions in check at this point- even Vex could barely tell if he was upset sometimes. She always figured it out eventually though, and he didn't want her to have a chance to poke any more questions. </p><p>“Well alright, keep your secrets,” Vex mumbled sleepily as she rolled over to face away from him, “But get some rest for fucksake. It’s the dead of night and it was your idea to hit the road in the morning.”</p><p>Vax felt his fake smile fall as she snuggled into sleep. He didn’t regret the choice he’d made but it didn’t feel right. He wanted to find a stream and scrub the memory from his body but he couldn’t move. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, his limbs feeling leaden, anchoring him to his position with his knees curled into his chest protectively. He didn’t want to be near his sister like this. He didn’t want anyone to touch him for a while. Part of him had enjoyed it sort of- it was nice to feel wanted, even in such a base way. Part of him wanted to crawl out of his skin, disgusted with himself for stooping so low. Part of him wanted to scream that this was just one more instance where he wasn’t a person, just an object to be manipulated. Part of him tried to rationalize the whole situation but logic and emotion don’t mix well. Stomach churning with excess alcohol and disparate emotions, Vax finally settled into an uneasy resting position, choking back silent tears on the other side of the fire.<br/><br/>He would get better at his trade with practice. It had been months since he'd first tried to pick a lock, and he'd gotten better. This was one botched job where he'd gotten caught. But one mishap out of how many successes? He'd been able to bargain for his freedom, and he'd kept the gold. <em>It wasn't a complete failure..Just mostly</em>. He would master the art of getting what he wanted without getting caught. He would be a shadow in the night and they would never see him. And if they never caught him again, he would never have to bargain. He would never have to make these sort of deals.</p><hr/><p><em>Thump Thump. Thump Thump. Thump Thump.</em> The blood pounded in his ears as he inhaled deeply of the crisp evening breeze. It wasn’t quite cold enough to frost over yet, thankfully, or this would have been much more difficult with slippery surfaces. Pressing forward, Vax lunged into the next dive, bouncing from the edge of one rooftop to the next. There was something exhilarating about that moment of uncertainty in the jump- where there was nothing solid to hold you up beyond your <em>absolute certainty</em> that you were going to make it. If he hesitated or second guessed his trajectory in the dark he would fall. Perhaps that was what flying was like- <em>simply refusing to allow yourself to fall</em>. The shingles of the roof skidded beneath his boots as he caught himself again, grinning broadly at his own success. Digging his fingers into the edge of the roof, Vax dropped down, allowing himself to swing sideways to land a level down on an empty balcony. Ducking low he glanced down to the street level, skimming for any signs that someone had taken notice of his decent. Seeing no signs of recognition, Vax sat up on his haunches, inspecting the window frame closely. It was simple enough really- no one ever thought to put proper locks on the upper windows. <em>Who would ever be able to reach those heights?</em> Vax smirked to himself as he rolled out his tool kit and selected two thin wires to finesse the simple latch. With a satisfying CLICK, the tools were recoiled and tucked into his satchel again. Feather-light touches lifted the glass pane silently as Vax tucked himself through the window and into the dark of the study.</p><p>It had taken him months of practice to get good with locks, and months after that to get really good at getting in and out of buildings undetected. He was good at staying unseen in the streets, but now, with practice, he was simply another shadow among the darkness. Vex could keep her bow and arrows- he was learning to be invisible in plain sight. He'd had his missteps, and Vex had patched him up more than a few times. He'd almost been arrested twice, but they could never quite catch up. But each time, he got better, And each time the pay off was better. He had contacts now- it was a proper trade of sorts. Sometimes he would even get contracts to pick up goods for a high price, like tonight. And after this job, the payoff would make sure Vex and he could live comfortably for a bit and take a break from camping. </p><p>Gliding over to the large mahogany desk in the center of the room, Vax dropped to one knee as he scanned and traced the edges of the drawers for any triggers or other traps. Carefully, just catching the glint of moonlight off of the silver thread, Vax pinched at the trigger and detached the mechanism to avoid any unpleasantness that may have resulted from unwanted prying. Glancing over his shoulder to ensure he hadn’t awoken anyone in the house, he turned his full attention to investigating the contents of the drawer. A false bottom sounded hollow against the faint tapping of his knuckles, drawing him to his prize. Closing the drawer carefully with the diamond necklace wrapped in his other hand, Vax drifted back out the window. Securing the goods, Vax curled around the side of the balcony, dropping free fall towards the rapidly approaching cobblestones. Ducking into a roll at the last minute after slowing the decent with a foot pushing off of the wall, Vax bounced back up to his feet. There was beauty in the danger of this dance- staying just outside the edge of society’s watchful eye. Dusting himself off with a slow grin, Vax adjusted his hood and disappeared back into the shadows he’d risen out of. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Everything has a Price</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vax joins the Clasp.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u"><strong>Everything has a Price</strong></span><br/>"...We’ll sell your bones for another roll, we’ll sharpen your teeth- tell yourself that it’s just business…” - "And the Snakes Start to Sing", Bring Me the Horizon</p><hr/><p><br/>He had held back, despite his better judgment, and had given this man the benefit of the doubt when Vax saw him eyeing up Vex at the Westruun market two days ago. At first Vax had planned to chalk it up to an amorous young man smitten by his sister- she had that effect on people when she walked around winking at everyone who would give her the time of day. Vax had urged her to be more careful who she flirted with, but Vex got whatever she wanted when she asked for it, and it was hard to argue with those results. The man’s lingering gaze had seemed off-putting to Vax at first, but he’d given it the day, hoping he would fade into a forgotten memory. When the man had shown up again an hour later, ducking into an alley across from where the twins had stopped to haggle at a pawnshop, Vax had perked up to attention. Once was an annoyance, twice was perhaps a coincidence, but Vax was on high alert to see if the man showed up a third time. Sure enough, some time later as they paused to sit with their backs against the large fountain at the center of town, Vax caught sight of the green-grey cloak and the sandy haired head as the man ducked behind a vendor cart to their right side. Vex was preoccupied, arguing with the man next to them about who had been next in line to order at the vendor, and she didn’t seem to notice as Vax switched into high alert. His chest pounded arrhythmically as his eyes darted around looking for any source of potential threat. Crowds could be safe as places to blend into, but crowds could also hide other dangers. Sweat prickled along his brow despite the pleasant breeze, but Vex continued unperturbed.</p><p>He spent the next two days in town on edge at all times. Vex had insisted that they stay for a few days to meet up with a contact of hers who was due to pass through Westruun and owed her some favors. Vax didn’t want to know what kind of favors she was owed, but if his sister was determined to stay there was nothing he could do to convince her otherwise. As Vax caught sight of a green-grey cloak for the third day in a row, he excused himself, saying he would catch up in a moment, and doubled around to trail the man who’d been following them all morning. By his logic, either the man would divert course to follow Vax, or he would stay on Vex and that would determine the target. The blond man didn’t even seem to notice Vax had left the equation, confirming his fears. After trailing the man in the grey cloak for another hour, the trail diverged and he left Vex’s path. Vax stayed on his new target as they wound down back alleys, through to the other side of town. Vax held his vantage point on the roof, flattening on his belly to avoid being seen. The man with the sandy hair rapped a pattern against a door, waiting a moment for another individual to emerge into the shadowed alley. Vax silently wished he’d picked up Vex’s skill of reading lips, but he’d never paid that close attention to the specifics anyway. They two men spoke for a moment and his original mark headed inside. Hesitating for a second, Vax chose to follow the new man in brown cloak as he made his way back out to the main thoroughfare. For the first ten minutes of following his new mark, Vax thought maybe he’d picked up the wrong man, until he heard Vex’s laughter from across the street. His heart sank into the pit of his stomach as he realized this wasn’t going to be a one off situation. <br/><br/>The low setting sun would have been pretty as it cascaded across the square, but Vax couldn’t focus on anything except tracking the man in the brown cloak as he wove his way across the crowd. Vax pivoted direction, gliding across the rooftops low enough to stay out of sight as the man in the brown cloak ducked into an alley to the left of where Vex was haggling with some shop keeper over the price of some furs she wanted to sell. Brown cloak didn’t notice as Vax dropped further back into the alley, and he definitely didn’t notice the silent, shadowed approach until the rogue was already slamming his dagger pommel into his nose. In a moment of surprise, Vax wrapped his hand around the other man’s mouth to prevent him from calling out and dragged him back into the alley.</p><p>The dagger flicked around between his fingertips so easily- once, twice, and on the third spin it struck out with lightning quickness, embedding itself in the upper bicep of the man in front of him. The man screamed out, voice straining against the muffling pressure of Vax’s hand against his mouth.</p><p>“Why were you following her? What do you want with her?” Vax demanded, his voice harsh as grating iron as he leaned in close. The man in front of him must have been a good bit older than himself but the fear shimmering in his eyes lent him a much younger appearance as Vax snarled in the back alley.</p><p>The man sniffled slightly as a bit of blood dribbled out from his nose. Pinned against the alley wall, brown cloak thrashed to the side, trying to break free of the grip. Overpowering him was not an option, but Vax knew he could be faster- sliding to the left to keep pace as he slashed the blade downward towards the man’s hamstring. The man flailed forward as the tendon severed in one swift motion, screaming again into Vax’s hand. Vax looked down to catch a glimpse of a short sword at his hip, and sliced the belt in a fluid motion, effectively disarming him.</p><p>“I can’t have you walking away from me when I still have questions,” Vax shook his head slowly, feeling a still, dark anger swelling in his chest. There was something calming about having a blade in his hand. He’d learned long ago that the only way to handle a knife was to trust it as an extension of his own self- the slightest tremble would send his target wide and that would be his undoing. There was no room for fear with knives. Perhaps that was what made him brave in moments like this- knowing that there was no other option. This didn’t feel like bravery though, a voice in the back of his head noted, slashing at an unnamed man in a back alley. This felt like fear had found a new face in his anger, promising strength in place of panic. <em>This man is after Vex. I have to protect her. This man is after Vex.</em></p><p>“I’ll ask you one more time,” Vax brought the blade up to rest beneath the man’s chin as he slowly removed his hand from the mouth, “Why were you following her? What do you want with the girl?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” the man stammered, the words choking up as he fumbled over them, “ I don’t know I just…” Vax pressed the blade harder against his pulse, “The client wants her. When the client makes a contract, they get what they want.”</p><p>For a moment, pity almost crossed over Vax’s features at how pathetic this man was under pressure, but any semblance of mercy was immediately replaced with the horror of understanding.<em> Someone put an order out to take Vex. Someone was tracking them.</em> He clenched his jaw, trying to bite back the increasing terror as he screamed internally, <em>Vex is alone right now. I left her alone again.</em></p><p>“Who put out the job? How many of you are looking for her? Talk!” Vax spat, his eyes burning intently.</p><p>“Does it matter? The contract is already out- the client will have her one way or another.”</p><p>“Who sent you? I won’t ask again,” Vax demanded.</p><p>“They would kill me if I told you,” The man almost pleaded as the cold steel pressed against his racing pulse, drawing just a sliver of red.</p><p>“I’ll kill you if you don’t,” Vax flashed a crooked smile as the man recoiled into himself under his blade.</p><p>“The… The Clasp sent me,” the man spat blood onto the cobblestones, “And if you weren’t on their shit list before, you are now.” Something about his shift into sudden confidence made the hair on Vax’s neck prick up, just a second before he sensed the other bodies shifting into the background.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Vax slashed upwards, tearing at the throat of the man in front of him as he pivoted, launching the blade forward instinctually. With some luck and the briefest hint of sound to guide him, the blade sunk in to the hilt, embedded in the shoulder of the figure approaching on his left. Vax dropped low, drawing two more daggers as he prepared himself to spring forward at the first person to approach. Taking in split second stock of his surroundings, Vax noted three figures had approached, closing off both sides of the alley. There was no where to run- unless he could get back up to the roofs. A split second later the thought crossed his mind- <em>if they found me they could have found Vex</em>. Shoving the panic to the side, Vax adjusted his stance to avoid slipping on the blood gurgling forth from the body at his feet. He had to get to her.</p><p>There is a delicate balance between the blades, slashing and lunging forward into the blow, and Vax had practiced long and hard to make this dance more second nature than walking or breathing. The blades were an extension of his pulse, hammering in his ears. He had one chance to find the vital signs, to deal out the maximum damage, to end this all. Pivoting and dodging in a deadly ballet, Vax swept his blades just above the ground level to swing up and into the next strike. If he could put some distance between himself and the assailants, he could focus on throwing the blades- he’d always had better aim that way. Up close he got distracted and a split second moving in the wrong direction could change the tide against his favor. Throwing from afar gave him a chance to gather himself properly. But there wasn’t room to throw as the three cloaked figures rushed in, tangling limbs and weapons as they struck out to bring him low. Mostly Vax was able to weave between their assault but a few blows caught him off guard, just enough to stagger him. His vision went hazy as something blunt slammed into his right temple and the ground rose up to meet him as he fell to his side. <em>Vex…<br/></em></p><hr/><p>Vax shook himself into a frenzied state of alertness as he thrashed against the rope binding his hands above his head. He tried to kick out, finding his ankles similarly lashed together. The strain on his upper body forced a low pained groan as he realized he was being held up by the bonds on his wrists. He pivoted his head to either side, trying to shake free of the cloth that covered his eyes. <em>ThumpThump ThumpThump. ThumpThump ThumpThump</em>. His heart hammered overtime as he tried to take mental stock of his personal feeling. Other than the throbbing headache emanating from his temple, and the beginnings of what he presumed would be many new bruises, he didn’t feel any major wounds. That was something at least. Working from his feet up, Vax ran a mental inventory based on the weights he could still feel-<em> boots missing, pants on, belt on, pouches were gone, daggers missing, cloak was gone, shirt was present.</em> Lip twitching in frustration at the situation Vax began to work his way out, twisting his wrists together and folding his thumb flat against his palm. It took him a moment of careful concentration as he worked through the motions with his hands until the first hand slipped free. His wrist ached from both the contortion and the shackles, but there wasn’t time to focus on the dull pain.</p><p>Quickly grabbing the rope again so as not to fall, Vax clutched at his blindfold to throw it off with his free hand. Squinting against the low torch light, Vax glanced around, taking in what appeared to be a small stone room. Iron manacles jutted out from the wall and as he looked up he could see where his own ropes had been looped through and iron ring in the ceiling. There was a solid wooden door leading out from his room to who knows where. Vax shuddered in the damp chill of the room before sliding out his other hand to drop to the floor. With his feet bound together he couldn’t land softly, and Vax waited for a breathless few seconds to see if anyone would come to investigate the sudden THUMP. When it seemed that no one was going to show, Vax began undoing the knots on his ankles, freeing himself entirely before springing back up and ducking into the shadows of the corner. There was a table in the corner with what Vax could only presume were instruments meant for torture- but his items weren’t present. Thinking quickly, Vax grabbed the first thing he could find that resembled a bladed instrument, mentally preparing himself to fight his way out of the Clasp.</p><p>He’d heard of the Clasp before- everyone had. Hell, some of the contract’s he’d taken had been related to The Clasp, indirectly. They were the seedy underbelly of all of Tal Dorei- you couldn’t escape them, you couldn’t outrun them. Whether it was drugs and smuggling, or trafficking of people and documents, or simply violence for violence sake, the Clasp had a hand in all of the things that no one wanted to talk about in polite conversation. <em>And now they wanted his sister.</em> The only thing keeping Vax sane was the knowledge that if anyone tried to kidnap his sister, she would do more damage than he could. People so often underestimated her, only for her to rise above. He smiled to himself, steeling his nerves to step forward. Clank… the door pivoted open to the inside and Vax ducked back, again as a hooded figure stepped through.  Vax ducked backwards, sliding into the shadows on the side of the room, barely out of immediate sight. He felt his chest tighten as he held his breath, trying to eliminate even the slightest movement. The figure stepped forward, examining the now empty bonds, seemingly unperturbed by his disappearance.</p><p>“Impressive,” the figure rumbled, looking up to make eye contact with him, apparently having known where he was hiding all along. Vax felt his heart drop. The element of surprise was the one thing he’d been counting on for his benefit. “I’d heard you put up a good fight,” The figure continued, settling onto their back foot somewhat easily. Vax gritted his teeth. He could attack now, but the hooded figure was ready and waiting for any movement. He wouldn’t be able to get in a good attack, but neither could he get to the door without ducking past the figure.</p><p>“You fight like you’ve got something to lose,” The figure continued, taking a step closer to Vax. His pulse was pounding in his ears, nearly drowning out the sound of the other voice. “You’re afraid to lose her, this girl, aren’t you? What does she mean to you?”</p><p>Vax felt every muscle in his body tense, an involuntary reaction. No matter how good he’d gotten at keeping his emotions on lock, threats to Vex still triggered every instinct to fight. He didn’t want to admit how terrified he was that they would hurt Vex. He didn’t want to admit that if anything happened to her, he couldn’t go on. He didn’t want to admit that she meant everything to him. But all of those panicked thoughts flowed freely, expressed in the guttural growl as he launched himself forward to slash out at the hooded figure with his improvised weapon.</p><p>Missing on the first slash, Vax spun around, bringing his hand back to arc upwards towards the face. The figure dodged backwards, deftly staying just out of range. Vax pressed forward, matching step for step as the figure backed up.</p><p> “Good, good, you have the motions, but you can do better,” the voice chuckled, throwing Vax off of his rhythm. For a moment it almost sounded encouraging, as if he was supposed to be fighting back. As Vax hesitated in his confusion, the figure stepped forward with startling swiftness, grasping Vax’s forearm and slamming into his wrist.</p><p>“Don’t hesitate if you want to succeed,” The voice hissed. Up close Vax could see the crooked grin, with teeth just a little too sharp, eyes a little too bright. The hooded figure smirked, slamming into Vax’s wrist again trying to get him to drop the implement. Vax snarled, clutching his only weapon in a death grip as he tried to wriggle free, ducking under the other man’s arm. The half-orc man before him snapped forward, grabbing Vax by the throat and holding him in place before he could slip free.</p><p>“Everything has a price, boy. And some things that have not yet been done have a price to stay undone. You have some fight in you. What is she worth to you?” The half-orc leaned in close enough that Vax could smell his breath, rank with stale ale and something else Vax didn’t want to try and identify. After a moment of struggling, the half-orc released his grip ever so slightly, allowing Vax a response.</p><p>“What do you want?” Vax spat finally, gasping for air in the uncertain moment between what he expected to be another choking attempt.</p><p>“For right now, information. You’ve interfered with a deal for a client who has paid a good bit of money. Who are you? And why do you feel so compelled to interfere?”</p><p>“Go fuck yourself,” Vax narrowed his eyes, trying not to betray his rising panic. He might have interfered, but how much time would that buy Vex. <em>Would she come looking for him and walk right into this danger?</em></p><p>“You’re not really in a position to be impudent,” The figure tightened his grasp again, “But I appreciate the spirit. Do you understand who you’re interfering with, boy?”</p><p>“The Clasp…” Vax choked out the words.</p><p>“Very true. And you understand that you can’t escape us. We’re everywhere. We are in every shadow. We are in every nightmare in Tal Dorei. So there’s nowhere for you to run. You might as well talk, while I’m feeling generous. What is she worth to you to stay… safe?”</p><p>Vax’s eyes widened as the panic set in fully. He thrashed limply in the man’s grasp, trying to extricate himself without success. The longer he spent here- wherever here was- the more time Vex was alone and vulnerable. The more time they could be doing gods only knew what…</p><p>“Everything,” he gasped, “She’s everything. Whatever you want, I’ll make sure you have it. Take me. Fucking…” his words came out in short, raspy bursts as he tried to get the words past the hand on his throat. The half-orc grinned slowly, sending a shiver down Vax’s spine. There was never anything good that came from a smile like that.</p><p>“It would be a shame to disappoint a client, but it would be more of a shame to pass up on raw talent… a diamond in the rough, so to speak,” The half orc released the tension on Vax’s throat, but kept his massive hand there to reinforce the threat. “You happened to have embarrassed a few of our current members, and they have made some serious transgressions in the process of acquiring you. They will be punished. But that will leave us short a good team member… Can I offer you a trade? Your services, for the life of the girl. I have some… means available to me, to satiate the client without involving the girl directly, if you agree. If you are unwilling though, I will just as happily end you here and send the girl on her way to the client. You will make your choice here, boy. What’s it going to be?”</p><p>Vax felt his stomach flip involuntarily, the words echoing faintly in his father’s voice in the back of his mind. Another moment threatening to split him apart from Vex. Another demand for a choice. It wasn’t really a choice though. This was a decision already made, and masked with the illusion of choice. He would never bargain with Vex’s life, even if the cost was his own.</p><p>“Deal,” Vax snarled, not bothering to consider the implications. Whatever he had to do to keep her safe, it was worthwhile. For a split second, he wondered if his mother would still recognize him if he ever got home. He would be returning a thief and a criminal- far from the fun loving boy he’d left as a phantom memory in Byroden. But that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered until Vex was safe for sure. “What do you want of me?”</p><p>“Oh, <em>smart</em> boy,” The man grinned, but it could have easily been a snarl, “ You’ll trade your service for hers? I can work with this arrangement. We’ll have a bit of a ceremony to welcome you in… you’ll work for us. Wherever you go, we are there. If we need you, we’ll call on you, and you will answer. You’ll do the jobs we ask of you, and you’ll do so gladly. In return, I’ll make sure that the client no longer has need of that girl… exactly. Come along, we have work to do.”</p><p>Vax felt himself being dragged like a rag doll down the hallway, but he wasn’t entirely in control of his motions. Partially the lack of control was from the hand still around his throat. Partly it was from a sinking sense of dissociation as reality seemed to slip from his grasp. He was moving. There was a deal. He had agreed to the deal. It was over. There was no escape, no walking away from this. His head felt heavier than it should have and a tingling numbness began to prickle at his fingertips as Vax stared blankly at the passing walls.</p><p> The man led him down one hall and then another, winding ever inwards in some sort of metallic, subterranean tunnel system. Vax vaguely registered the motions, right left, straight, left, but the direction didn’t really mean anything in that moment as he continued to be led on. After a few minutes of walking, Vax found himself being thrust into a much larger central chamber. Along one side there were a series of tables and stools, almost as if a small tavern had been thrown in alongside the seeming court chambers on the other side of the room. One large, central, highbacked chair sat against the far wall, flanked by two long tables and a few other seats. It was an odd arrangement, Vax noted, slowly coming back to his senses as he was thrust into the much brighter light of this chamber. Several figures stood up to approach, varying sizes and races, but all looking somewhat similarly excited and curious by his arrival. Vax wasn’t sure if he was about to be the evening’s entertainment, but it was too late to back out now.</p><p>“Brothers and Sisters,” the half orc boomed, casting his voice out over the room to gather the attention of the last few stragglers who had not moved closer. “ Tonight, we honor our pact and we honor our agreement to one another. We have one among us who has broken that pact, and we shall pass judgement fitting. And we have one among us who would seek to join our ranks. Let him see what befalls those who don’t maintain the honor of our brotherhood. And then let us celebrate and welcome in fresh blood!”</p><p>Vax felt his head swimming as the figure from the alley- the one he’d initially tracked in the Brown Cloak- was pushed forward into the center of the floor on his knees. Another figure came from around the back, holding a long rod that Vax couldn’t quite make out.</p><p>“You were followed, you sacrificed the sanctity of the Clasp to try and save yourself, you nearly sacrificed a very important job… You have no honor. As Spireling, I pass this judgement upon you that you are stripped of your status, and you will satisfy the terms of the contract that you nearly lost.” The half orc growled. Vax tried to focus his eyes, slowly feeling more and more grounded as he tried to take in the scene before him. The entire crowd was silent in an unexpected turn, everyone focused solely on the approaching figure with the rod. Vax’s vision clarified to a sickening sight as the rod, which seemed to be made of tongues sewn together, was pressed against the head of the kneeling man. The man on the floor, begged desperately as the rod approached, trying to scoot backwards as best as he could with his hands and feet bound. Vax didn’t think that sound- the anguish and frantic pleas fell on deaf ears among the Clasp but echoed in Vax’s mind. <em>Please. Help Me. Don’t abandon me. I can make this right. I’ll do anything.  </em></p><p>Vax’s eyes widened as a faint, sickly green light began to spread from where the rod touched the man’s forehead on the floor. He was no stranger to magic, growing up in Syngorn, but this was some twisted perversion of magic that he had never seen. Vax felt the scream being wrenched from his gut involuntarily as the figure shifted form, taking on the appearance of Vex. He wasn’t even sure what he was screaming as Vax found himself struggling with renewed vigor against the man holding him still. Part of him knew he’d just watched that other man be transformed to look like his sister. Part of him could only respond to the image of his sister being dragged off, still begging for forgiveness. His veins bulged in the sides of his neck as he screamed himself hoarse, haunted by the image of his sister, transposed over a man he’d nearly killed. The half orc let him scream, holding him steady so Vax couldn’t run into the crowd, and nor could he fall to his knees.</p><p>“He was a murderer, a thief, and a sick bastard,” the man leaned in close to Vax who could no longer muster words or sound, “ We’re all terrible, fucked up people down here. He deserves what he gets. And if any of us break our vows to the Clasp, we deserve whatever fate befalls us. There is honor among thieves here, friend, and you’re one of us now.”</p><p>The half-orc released Vax finally, motioning for a table to be brought over as another figure emerged with a small case. Vax fell to his knees, the stone floor bruising his flesh but feeling like a distant dream. Nothing made sense. Everything that he’d just seen was something straight out of a nightmare. The image was going to be burned into his mind forever, a choice and a vision of what horrors could have come to pass. A vision of what horrors happened anyway. Vax felt himself being lifted up and led over to the table, and he allowed himself to be pressed forward. The figure with the case approached, a squat halfling woman with tattoos covering every inch of skin visible. She opened the small container and began to remove vials of ink and a set of small needles.</p><p>“Let’s get you set up then,” she grunted, beginning to set up her station as another figure tugged down the bag of Vax’s shirt. “Steady,” the halfling muttered before plunging the first needle into the tender skin between his shoulder blades. Vax didn’t even flinch, a strange numbness taking over his entire body. He didn’t have anything else to scream. He didn’t have enough energy to fight. He’d made this bed, and now he had to lay in it. The needles pumped into his skin, slowly working away to brand him with the mark of the Clasp. Vax sat still, waiting for it to be over, partially hoping this was a bad fever dream, but knowing that reality was always so much worse. As the Halfling woman finished her piece, the half orc peered over the table to examine the work. He chuckled darkly, clapping Vax on the shoulder as he turned to address the group still gathered.</p><p>“Welcome your newest brother to The Clasp!”</p><hr/><p>“Good, good, you have the motions, but you can do better.”<br/><br/>Vax gritted his teeth, flipping the dagger in his hands. The words were so close to that of his mentor growing up, but this time the words almost sounded like there was actual belief- like someone actually thought he could do better. He didn’t know if that was comforting or more disturbing to know that the first time someone seemed to believe in him was in his ability to kill.</p><p>“Don’t jump the attack. Wait for the perfect moment. Find their pattern- how they breathe, how they move, how they react. Know more about your enemy than they know about themselves.” The half orc man that Vax had come to know as Spireling Oalan had demanded that they stay in town for a bit longer for training. It had taken some convincing to get Vex to agree to stay in Westruun much longer since they had gotten in the habit of moving within four days of arrival. They had been staying at the same inn for the last week and had been less than thrilled at Vax’s request to stay at the inn until further notice. She had yelled at him something about needing the truth eventually, but Vax had only been half paying attention as he made his way back to the headquarters of the Clasp at Westruun. He would have to tell her eventually, but today everything was still too raw.</p><p>“Just because you see the target doesn’t mean it is the prime moment to strike. When it is time, strike hard, strike fast, strike true. Strike first so that they cannot strike back. The aim of an assassin is not to fight your target, it is to end an issue as quickly and quietly as possible. You are a problem solver, a puzzle master. You are a shadow on the wall. The fewer people that know you exist, the fewer people that know what you’ve done, the better your odds of success are. Assassins are not gamblers- do not mistake me. Risks are calculated. Know what you are doing every step of the way or you will fail yourself and the mission.” Spireling Oalan continued, pressing forward in the sparring routine and forcing Vax to readjust his technique. They had been training for hours with combinations of stealth and sparring, lessons on the proper usage of poisons and refining other skills as deemed necessary by the Spireling. Vax could feel every muscle in his body shaking with exertion and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep going. This was more intense than any combat lesson at the Elven Academy, partly because the weapons for training were not dulled and did actual damage if he failed. Vax already had several lacerations and bruises to show for his shortcomings and was keen to not go home with any worse injuries.</p><p>“Do you want this? Do you want to succeed? Do you want to be worth something?” Oalan shouted, goading Vax onwards. Vax could taste iron, knowing vaguely he’d bitten his lip as he stumbled out of range of that last attack. He could learn this. He had to learn this. There was no other choice. There was no Vex to copy answers from. He needed to know all of this so that if they did call on him, he could fulfill his end of the bargain to keep Vex safe. He didn’t want to succeed- he needed to.</p><p>“Assassination is the art of ushering in death,” Oalan spun around, coming up alongside Vax and forcing him to pivot quickly. “It is the art of an efficient death- <em>quick and clean</em>. Any fool can make a massacre. An assassin knows the balance of life so well that you can ride that line, and when it is time you make the final cut. You are a fine-tuned instrument of destruction- <em>the hand that chooses death</em>. Do you understand?”</p><p>Vax ducked under, slowly stumbling into a rhythm, and instinctively finding the patterns in Oalan’s movements. He wasn’t fully aware that he was picking up on the patterns at first, until he managed to slide inside of Oalan’s guard and catch him off guard with a lucky knife placement. Pressing cold steel against Oalan’s throat, Vax earned himself a rare smile.</p><p>“You’ll do well,” Oalan nodded, “You need to learn to control your impulses in a fight, but death smiles upon you. You’ll be lucky.”  Vax swallowed hard, withdrawing and putting his dagger away. As soon as the Spireling would let him go, he and Vex would be back on the road again. And maybe it was time to return home. Maybe it was time to reconnect with their mother and to get grounded again in the things that really mattered. He wasn’t sure this was what he wanted but it was the path he was on for now.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Trust Me on This</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Twins travel towards Byroden, and Trinket joins the family.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><br/><strong><span class="u">Trust Me on This</span></strong><br/>"... Well hold on, my darling, this mess was yours, now your mess is mine..." - "Mess is Mine", Vance Joy</p><hr/><p><br/>Vax rubbed his hands together nervously as they padded their way along the soft pine needle covered forest floor. Vex hadn’t been talking to him all day and he didn’t know how to explain the situation to her without making things more complicated than they already were. The extra time spent staying in Westruun had been an expense they hadn’t planned on, and their budget was much more strapped now. He knew that she was pissed at him more about his lack of sharing information than she was about the money, but it was easier to think about the budget. At least the budget would be an easier fix than addressing trust issues.<br/><br/>The twins didn’t keep secrets from one another- they had never been able to really. They had never even really been able to lie to one another. Even if they had tried, the truth always came out like a flood through a dam-<em> delayed but inevitable</em>. Vex had tried to keep a secret about a crush once, but had ended up spilling her guts to Vax in the early hours of the morning when neither of them could sleep. Vax had tried to keep from telling her about the first time he’d stolen something in Syngorn on a dare, but he’d confessed as soon as Vex had looked him in the eyes with that knowing stare. He couldn’t keep anything from her- he’d thought. And yet, over the course of their travels Vax had found himself trying to keep more and more secrets from his sister. Perhaps he wasn’t<em> trying</em> to keep secrets, but he found himself less inclined to tell her everything. She was on a need to know basis, and sometimes she didn’t need to know about all of his efforts to keep them safe.<br/><br/>As they continued to press on into the late afternoon, the silence was beginning to wear on him more and more. It was nice in the morning- neither of them enjoyed talking while they were waking up. But after hours and hours of nothing but hearing their own footsteps it felt like the silence was beginning to smother him. The few times he’d tried to have neutral conversations, Vex had walked away from him. When he’d tried to whistle to himself Vex had shot him the dirtiest glare, silencing him immediately. Vex could outlast him, he knew, if for no other reason than out of stubbornness and spite. She’d made it clear enough that until he decided to explain why they had stayed in Westruun for all that extra time she would maintain her silence. Another day of this would drive him crazy.<br/><br/>Vax swallowed hard, still struggling to figure out how to explain the mess he’d gotten into. He couldn’t bring himself to talk about the contract out on her, or about watching the horrors he’d seen unfold in the Clasp Headquarters. He’d woken up in a cold sweat the last few nights, still hearing the man begging for forgiveness in his nightmares. He couldn’t put that on her. That was his burden to bear, and another secret for him alone to keep. But he also couldn’t hide his new allegiance forever- she would see the tattoo eventually and it was better to tell her before then. Secrets were much easier to keep without physical brands. He couldn’t lie to her, but he could omit some of the motivations behind his actions. <br/><br/>“Vex,” he sighed, trying to choose his words carefully, “ I owe you an explanation…”<br/><br/>“No shit,” Vex muttered, turning to face him as she stopped in her tracks. The forest seemed to extend forever around them, but her gaze was locked onto him, keeping them anchored in this spot and moment. <br/><br/>“I need you to trust that I only did what I thought would be best for us,” Vax continued, finally meeting her eyes. He wanted to look anywhere else rather than meeting the scrutiny in her eyes, but he needed her to know he was being as sincere and honest as he could manage. “I made… some new allies while we were in Westruun and they needed me to stay for a bit… to earn their trust and to learn some new skills. They’re going to be useful for us at some point, I think. It was an arrangement I needed to make.”<br/><br/>“<em>What the fuck did you do Vax?</em> Just spit it out already will you?” Vex’s shoulder’s slumped forward, giving up the stubborn wall of anger to a look of exhaustion and exasperation as though trying to be mad was too much effort to maintain for this long. It was so much easier to joke around and make fun of each other than it was to be suspicious and mistrusting. They already didn't trust the rest of the world- at the very least they needed to be able to trust each other.<br/><br/>“I may have joined the clasp,” Vax felt the words spilling out before he could really try to filter the thoughts. There was no good way to explain why he’d felt it was necessary, so maybe just writing it off as an impulsive choice and throwing himself on her mercy would be easier. <em>Not that anything was ever easy with Vex.</em><br/><br/>“<em>You did fucking what?</em>” Vex’s eyes shot open wide as though she’d watched him grow another head, “Vax do you understand the Clasp…” she trailed off trying to process what he’d just said. “The Clasp is… holy shit Vax…You’re just fucking with me right? You’re just trying to get a rise out of me right now? This is another one of your shitty pranks?”<br/><br/>“I know, I know,” he held up his hands defensively, “It’s not ideal. But trust me on this, yeah? I wouldn’t have done this if I could have come up with a better solution.” Vax found himself walking forward instinctively wrapping Vex up in his arms to pull her in for a hug. He needed to feel a connection to keep him grounded and avoid spiraling out in his own self doubt about his decision. She could be upset with him and she could think he was an idiot, but he didn’t really have a choice in this matter. He needed her to forgive him for this choice because he wasn’t sure he could forgive himself.<br/><br/>They stood there in silence for another minute as Vex processed the magnitude of what her brother had done. Even without knowing much about the Clasp, everyone knew they were infamous, they were dangerous, and they were everywhere. This decision would follow them wherever they went. Finally Vex broke back from the hug, looking Vax up and down and trying to find the words he wasn’t saying. Vax kept his eyes solidly down at the ground, investing the entirety of his attention on a broken twig half underfoot. They were runaways, but now he was a criminal with the training to kill. He didn’t want to think about what judgement Vex might be passing on her own, or worse what their mother might think. This would have to be a secret from their mother- he couldn’t stand to break her heart like that. Secrets were useful, like silence and learning to walk away, there was a power there. There was safety and protection in omission and keeping to yourself. The things you didn’t admit couldn’t hurt anyone else and they couldn’t be used against you.<br/><br/>Vex pressed a hand against his chin, lifting his gaze involuntarily. “I love you and you know I’ll always support you, darling. I don’t understand what possessed you to do this, but I can’t force you to tell me. You’re an idiot, and an asshole. But when you’re ready to tell me, I’ll be here.” She said softly, her voice lacking the bitterness and judgement he’d expected. She didn’t seem to hate him or be as disappointed as he’d braced for. There was a quiet understanding even- an allowance of trust and space that he didn’t feel he deserved. With a soft smile, Vex brought her hand up seemingly out of nowhere and whacked Vax upside the back of his head, the impact stinging and earning a quick wince. Vax stood there for a moment as she walked away, trying to keep his breathing in check to prevent the tears of relief that threatened at the edge of his vision. Nothing was certain in this world, Vax knew, except for his sister’s support. And <em>that</em> meant everything.</p><hr/><p><br/><br/>Vex had been leading the way, keeping them moving even past sundown to try and get to a shelter point she’d marked on one of their previous travels through the area. It was somewhat strange to be coming back through the Verdant Expanse after spending a bit over a year avoiding the area all near Syngorn, but they needed to pass this way to head back towards Byroden. Vax wasn’t sure if his sister kept them walking into the night because she was truly set on this campsite, or because moving helped to calm her nerves as they got closer. He couldn’t blame her either- he was equally nervous about the idea of returning home. <em>How long had it been since they’d seen their mother last? How long had it been since they’d been children, running between the houses in the hamlet and running amok with muddy feet and carefree smiles? How many people would recognize the twins on their return? How would their mother respond to seeing them grown up now?</em><br/><br/>Vex pointed out some tree roots to avoid as they continued trudging along, their feet slowly beginning to drag with exhaustion after so many hours of hiking. Vax consistently regretted selling the last horse, but Vex had gotten a good deal on the sale. The gold had been nice at the time, but it still didn’t help his aching feet now. As Vax leaned his head back to complain about their continued march, Vex held up a hand sharply, calling him to silent attention. A hand instinctively reached for the daggers at his belt as Vex seemed to be listening all around them, triangulating whatever noise had brought her to a halt. Vax felt a shiver creep down his spine as something rustled in the brush off to their left hand side. Emerging in a burst of speed were two humanoid flashes of brown matted fur and snarling teeth. Vax rolled to one side as Vex dodged behind a nearby tree- both just making it out of the line of the charge.<br/><br/>“Bugbears!” Vex called out as an arrow lodged itself in-between the shoulder blades of the first creature which had pulled itself up to its full height and was now scanning the area for their new positions after missing the first attack.<br/><br/>“<em>Excellent observation, dear sister</em>!” Vax called back, the words dripping in sarcasm as he shrunk himself into the shadows to try and flank around to the other side. The second creature pivoted around to follow his voice,  and barreled forward. With a flick of his wrist Vax drew the first blade and flipped it forward, aiming for the hollow in the neck as the creature let out a horrible scream of blood-lust. The dagger found it’s mark, and the scream turned more into a bloody gurgle, but still the charge continued. Vax glanced over to where his sister had been, trying to get a visual on her. Two more arrows were sticking out of the bugbear near her like a living pincushion but she too seemed to be struggling. Vax drew his other dagger, preparing to slash at the bugbear as it rushed past. In his rush, Vax miscalculated, with his leg not fully pulled out of range as the bugbear collided, spinning him off balance. Vax lashed out, digging the blade into the putrid smelling fur even as he could feel claws sinking into his own flesh and tearing at the muscles in his calf.<br/><br/>An arrow whizzed past his ear, sinking solidly into the bugbear’s neck as a burst of blackish blood oozed out of the new impact. Vax took the opportunity as the creature reared back in pain to withdraw and re-situate his dagger, drawing the blade along the vulnerable side of the neck to turn the blood trickle into a morbid waterfall. The claws gripping into Vax’s leg loosened before falling limp, giving him the opportunity to wriggle free. His left leg was soaked through with some horrific combination of his own blood and the molasses like bugbear blood, with dirt and small stones sticking to the mess. Vax looked up at his sister from the ground, a stupid grin creeping across his face before he lifted up one of the massive, bloody paws and flopped it around to wave at Vex. She rolled her eyes at his antics as Vax continued to puppet the still warm, fuzzy arm for another moment or so to annoy his sister as he caught his breath. The entire issue had taken mere seconds, but the twins were gasping for breath. Vex was checking over her shoulders, trying to identify any other slight noises or possible attacks as Vax slowly pulled himself up to his feet.<br/><br/>Vax sucked in air sharply as the pain first set in trying to put weight on the leg that had been clawed up. It was functional, but the shooting pain was going to slow him down significantly. Vax stepped forward, testing it a bit more and finding how he could counter balance his weight onto the right hand side. Eventually the compensation would leave a heavy ache in his right hip, but that was better than the immediate sharpness of the pain on his left leg. Vex began digging through the pockets on the rudimentary armor the bugbears had wrapped around themselves. She wrinkled her nose as she pulled a few small trinkets and some coins out of the pouches.<br/><br/>“Not shabby,” Vax nodded at the arrow riddled creature by Vex’s feet, “ Took that thing out pretty fast there.” He was genuinely impressed by how quickly they had managed to dispatch the gnarly looking entities that now lay motionless. It was one thing to hunt animals and other normal creatures, but it took a certain level of skill to not die at the hands of these more dangerous entities.<br/><br/>“Not too bad yourself,” Vex winked, but her stance betrayed her unease, “Think you can still walk on that thing? I don’t really want to hang around for any others to arrive.” Vex nodded down at his leg as he shifted his weight to the opposite side. “Shit, we gotta get that bandaged up,” her nod turned into a deep frown as she seemed to take in the blood loss.<br/><br/>“Eh, I’ll be fine,” Vax waved her off as she began to dig through her backpack looking for the gauze rolls, “Let’s just get out of here and deal with it later, yeah?” Vax hobbled forward, clenching his teeth with each step to stifle the involuntary yelps of pain. Vex moved forward to meet him, ignoring his protests as she peeled the shredded pant leg out of the gashes. Pouring a bit of her water skein over the wound to clear it out, Vex pressed a wad of herbs into the open wound before beginning to wind the bandages around and around in a practiced pattern.<br/><br/>“I would say we’re getting pretty good at this, if you didn’t keep almost dying on me every damn time we fight something worse than a squirrel,” Vex muttered.<br/><br/>“I didn’t almost die!”<br/><br/>“Sure, sure, and you’re not the reason we’re almost out of bandages. Again,” Vex rolled her eyes, tying off the end of the bandage. Vax leaned some more weight onto his left side, testing the stability with the new dressings. While it still stung, the combination of pressure on the wound and whatever herbs Vex had pressed in seemed to keep some of the pain at bay.<br/><br/>“<em>We are getting better</em> at this whole fighting monsters thing,” Vax grumbled, still wrapping an arm around Vex to lean on her somewhat as they began to walk forward.<br/><br/>“Maybe there’s a business in this,” Vex chuckled, leading her brother away from the mess, “ Gotta find a way to capitalize on these skills right? Tracking things has to pay better than just pulling pelts and hoping for the best.”<br/><br/>“If by skills you mean not dying, then yes, we are <em>the most</em> skilled,” Vax grinned back, earning a soft laugh.<br/><br/>“No, only one of us is skilled at not dying,” Vex hip-checked him lightly, “The other one just barely scrapes by.”<br/><br/>“Eh, close enough,” Vax leaned his head against his sister’s, not as intrigued by the idea of seeking out these monsters, but just glad to make it out mostly alright. They walked on in silence for a few minutes, Vex still peering around anxiously in the dark, head swiveling on alert for any potential threats. Vax did his best to stay alert as well, but the pain was beginning to streak up his leg in dull pulses the more they pushed forward. His gait pivoted, slowing somewhat as he tried to swing his leg a bit more to alleviate the pressure. Vex's brow furrowed as she watched him limp forward. After what seemed like an eternity of struggling forward, Vex sighed and leg him off to the side of the road towards a cluster of trees. <br/><br/>"This isn't the site you were talking about, right?" Vax raised an eyebrow as Vex began circling the cluster for a perimeter check. She poked around in the bushes before hauling herself up onto a low hanging branch to check up in the boughs. Seemingly satisfied she dropped back down to stand next to her brother as she began to shrug off her traveling pack. <br/><br/>"Not by a long shot, but you're not gonna be much use traveling like this. Might as well rest up until you're less useless," she half laughed, but he could tell she was only partly joking. <br/><br/>"I'll be fine, really, " Vax tried to protest, feeling a wave of embarrassment and frustration with himself wash over his exhaustion and reinvigorate his steps. "I'm not gonna hold us up."<br/><br/>"Bold words for the one legged man," Vex shook her head, still going about setting up her bedroll, " It'll be easier for both of us to move in the morning. It didn't really matter about that campsite anyways. It might not even be safe anymore, so here's good enough."<br/><br/>"But it mattered to you to get there, didn't it?"<br/><br/>"It matters more to me that you're not completely fucked," Vex frowned sternly, " You yelled at me for fucking ever when I broke my arm. You think I'm not gonna yell at you about being careful when your leg looks like a chew toy?"<br/><br/>"You don't usually get hurt like that- someone has to remind you to take it easy! And I wasn't on your case for that long," Vax frowned back, realizing that his protests were falling on deaf ears about continuing. Once Vex had made up her mind there was very little that could be done to dissuade her. It was incredibly frustrating, but it was worse because they were equally stubborn and had no one to adjudicate their arguments. <br/><br/>"You get hurt all the time and you <em>never</em> take it easy," Vex huffed, "So you don't get to talk about shit. I'll patch you up when you're a mess, you'll do the same for me. It's enough. Sleep it off and hopefully we'll make better time in the morning. I'll take first watch." <br/><br/>Vax smiled, in spite of himself. Sometimes she looked so much like their mother with the way she would hold herself, proud and stubborn and utterly refusing to be argued with. It wasn't the same haughty pride their father seemed to exude- it was a quiet stubbornness that demanded compliance. They both took turns trying to keep each other on track and to keep each other safe and sane. And no matter how often he felt like he was playing at being the parent, at keeping her safe, Vax couldn't argue with the fact that his sister was the only one with half a mind to keep them <em>both</em> healthy. Love was a sacrifice, as far as he was concerned, and the greatest sacrament and testament was being willing to sacrifice yourself, your comfort, your person, to ensure the other person continued to thrive. Vex looked at love as an ongoing transaction of sorts- a constant trade to keep equilibrium among the parties involved. Sometimes that equilibrium was the main thing that kept Vax from pushing himself beyond his means, he realized, although he would never willingly admit as much to Vex. As he laid out his bed roll the bandage around his leg was tight and splotched with red, but it was a comforting pressure- both keeping the blood in the wound and keeping him grounded to the sensibilities of the situation. They would be better in the morning light and they would make more ground. <em>Everything would look better in the morning.</em> </p><hr/><p>“Stay here, Stubby,” Vax winked as he adjusted his cloak. Firelight flickered across his features as Vex flipped a log to stoke the flames.</p><p>“Sure, sure… You get to go into town and play pawn broker when we both know I’m better with the shop keepers,” Vex grumbled. The closer they got to Byroden the more both of the twins felt their nerves twisting into new levels of irritability. Vax had been trying to keep the tension to a minimum, but it reared up every once in a while after an especially long day, or when there was a deviation from their standard traveling day.</p><p>“You’re the one that wanted to be in touch with nature, or whatever bullshit it was that you said when we were leaving,” he poked back, “You could have been the thief but you wanted to run free.” He flipped his hair over his shoulder, imitating his sister with her nose up as he pranced forward.</p><p>“I just said I paid better attention to the lessons about... <em>oh fuck you</em>. I’m still better with people than you are,” Vex squinted her eyes back.</p><p>“Maybe sister dear, but you’re not better at <em>procuring</em> valuable goods.” Vax patted the side satchel on his belt as it jangled ever so slightly, “ So I’ll finish up this business and we’ll be set for a bit, alright? Just stay put.” If Vex made another comment it was lost to the woods as Vax shifted forward and into the shadows.</p><p>It was several hours later when Vax padded back softly to camp, feeling rather pleased with himself for the final trade. It had taken him several tries to get a secure buyer, and the deal had almost fallen through at the last moment. Vex was right- she was by far better at negotiating with people, and shop keepers especially. They shared the same appreciation for gold and the value of the trade. To Vax it was just a means to an end, and this end had a reasonably good profit. He tossed the leather coin pouch back and forth between his hands grinning as he walked back into the clearing where he’d left their camp. Immediately his face fell as his eyes skimmed over the dull embers of the fire burning out slowly. <em>No Vex.</em></p><p>Pocketing the pouch Vax dropped low into a defensive stance with his daggers at the ready. Sliding along the edge of the camp, he scanned over the scene for any signs or traces of his sister. In the dying glow of the fire he could make out the tree stump she’d been using as a bench- knocked over to it’s side.</p><p>“Vex?” He whispered hesitantly, afraid that the only answer would be silence. Crickets echoed back his question as he cursed under his breath and moved inwards to look for footprints. Vex had shown him some tracking skills so that he could learn to avoid being tracked, and suddenly he was very glad she’d given him the lesson. It took him a few minutes to pick up the trail among the muddled footprints that seemed to dance around the flame, but eventually he stalked off to follow the footprints deeper into the woods. Vax followed the trail for about ten minutes before he lost sign of any tracks along the rocks leading to a small creek. Cursing aloud, Vax moved along the stream to see if he could pick it back up, to no avail. Looping back around, he zig zagged through the area, looking for any signs that she might have trailed off in a different direction. Nothing. After an hour of searching, Vax pivoted back to the camp, hoping to find some clue he’d missed before- anything. His head was throbbing as anxiety welled up with a chaotic scream behind his eyes. Jaw locked tight his movements felt too slow, like he would never be able to find her in time if she needed him.</p><p>The embers had sunken even lower into their decay as he traced the earth along their campsite, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. The more he looked at it all the more it seemed there might have been more than one set of tracks- perhaps two or three sets of footprints in total. A cold sweat broke out down his spine as worst case scenario phantoms wrestled for control of his attention. <em>Someone had found her while he was gone. He’d left her unprotected. Someone wanted to hurt her. He’d left her alone.</em></p><p>“Vax?” her voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear as she approached. He pivoted on his heel, both daggers out at the ready, as Vex stepped out from the edge of the woods. Vax’s eyes widened with relief as his sister emerged, her hair tousled and a thick, brown lump wrapped up in her arms. He sheathed the daggers in an instant, bounding forward to wrap her up in a hug, unintentionally crushing the warm, fuzzy bundle between them. Vex winced momentarily before leaning her head into the hug. A disgruntled chuff drew Vax’s attention as the thing in Vex’s arms wiggled between them, seemingly trying to free itself from the embrace.</p><p>“What…What’ve you got there?” Vax exhaled a sigh of relief, turning into a chuckle as he looked down at the squirming bear cub his sister refused to release. She seemed to be clinging onto the fur not just to keep the cub still, but to keep herself steady.</p><p>“I… You’re always finding little trinkets to take with you… Well, I wanted one of my own.” Vex looked down at the bear cub with the same look of wonder and adoration Vax remembered her wearing when she’d gotten her first fancy new dress in Syngorn. It was both an expression of hesitant excitement for future implications, and a look of simple love for the moment. Her face was soft and the hard edges she’d worn around her frown when they were traveling seemed to have eased as she looked down at the bear which had flopped backwards against her. She was still tense, her muscles taught as if she was still preparing for an incoming blow, but the more she snuggled into the cub, the more she seemed to relax.</p><p>“<em>That’s a bear cub</em>,” Vax laughed, not quite believing that his sister had returned to camp, alive, well, and with a small, apex predator cuddled into her arms.</p><p>“That’s a bear cub,” Vex repeated, affirming the obvious.</p><p>“I hate to be the bear-er…. Of bad news,” Vax grinned stupidly, “But uh, is mama bear going to be particularly happy about playtime?” He couldn’t help himself as the joke lined itself up. There was so much relief in his voice, having her here safely after he’d just convinced himself that she’d been taken or worse. Still, he couldn’t suppress the instinct to look over his shoulder for a bigger bear- that sort of hesitancy was the only thing keeping them alive. “You were gone when I got here… Where did you go? Where did you find him? Are you okay? Vex? Why in heaven’s sake do you have a bear cub?”</p><p>“His mama… didn’t make it. I’m his mama now. That’s all that matters,” Vex said slowly, still seeming to process the information. The cub flopped around in her arms, swatting a paw upwards as it tried to right itself. It’s soft cries rumbled through her chest as she held the cub close, burying her face in the soft brown fur. Vax watched his sister snuggle into the cub and nodded, coming to terms with the fact that he now needed to protect his sister, and her new bear cub. She was okay and that’s all that mattered. If there was now a bear cub to take care of as well, they would figure out how to make that work. </p><p>“This isn’t exactly how I thought I’d become an uncle, but I suppose it’s better than me having to kill some asshole for touching you, Stubby” Vax laughed, leaning forward to wrap them up in another group hug. Vex and the cub complained into his shoulder as he laughed off their protests. “He’s a fine, healthy baby boy,” Vax cooed, separating to scratch behind the cub’s ears. “ <em>Who’s a big, fuzzy, baby? Who’s a good beary boy?</em> You look just like your new mama, you beautiful, fuzzy lump.”</p><p>The cub rumbled happily against Vax’s patting as Vex swatted at her brother. “You’re a bastard,” She laughed, her eyes tearing up slightly with relief.</p><p>“So are you!” Vax hopped backwards out of her reach, “So what are you going to name him?”</p><p>Vex looked down at the cub which had stopped squirming to nuzzle into her arms. The soft, warm breath puffing out from his cold wet nose. “He’s my trinket,” she repeated to herself wonderingly, before looking up more solidly, “I’ll call him Trinket.”</p><p>“That’s a silly name to call my nephew,” Vax laughed over his shoulder as he made his way back over to restart the campfire. There were so many ridiculous moments they'd had between them, and <em>somehow</em> adding a bear cub as a pet wasn't the weirdest thing to happen. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the bear but that would be an issue for another day. For now, they were seemingly safe and that was good enough. The flip flopping of emotions was so intense, from the anxiety of thinking Vex was missing to the intense relief of having her emerge seemingly unharmed, that he could still feel his stomach churning. Seeing Vex looking down so adoringly at the cub was a strange sort of joy in itself- it had been far too long since Vex had looked like she was that invested in anything. They were so far from having direction or purpose lately, but she looked at that bundle of fur and teeth like it was something she anchor herself to. He was happy that she seemed happy. He was happy that she was safe. He was just happy that for once, everything seemed to be working out well.</p><p>“Don’t listen to your uncle, Trinket,” Vex cooed, “He’s just jealous that you’ll be big and strong and he’ll still be scrawny and an asshole.” She stuck her tongue out at her brother as they both laughed, relishing in the moment of restored security.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Home is Where You Are</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vax and Vex cope with the return to Byroden and the loss of their Mother.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong><span class="u">Home is Where You Are</span></strong><br/>"...I'm alone, 'cause this house don't feel like home, If you love me don't let go...Hold onto me 'cause I'm a little unsteady..." -"Unsteady", X Ambassadors</p><hr/><p><br/>There is something strange and terrifying about returning to something that was once so familiar but that has become alien through time and distance. Like returning to find that the mountain in the backyard was really only a hill, or finding that the stuffed animal that protected you from danger was really ordinary after all, there is something disorienting about returning home to find that it no longer feels like home. The structures remain and the roads haven’t changed, but the faces don’t have the same sense of recognition and it is easy to find yourself a stranger among the paths you could walk blindfolded. Vax found himself struggling against this suffocating realization as he began to move into Byroden proper, holding Vex’s hand in much the same way that they had when they’d first left for Syngorn.<br/><br/> Part of him had half expected to run into a familiar face on the outskirts and to return home as the prodigal son, even if he didn’t want to have any noise about their return. He hadn’t expected to return in obscurity and isolation. Many of the stores they’d known had changed, with new shops and new signs. Many of the homes even seemed to be rebuilt and fresh. Some of the earth was upturned as though major projects had been moving through and uprooting bits of town to begin again. It was the same place they had left behind, and yet it clearly wasn’t. In his mind’s eye, Byroden had been frozen in time, waiting for their arrival. He knew it wasn’t fair or sensible, but it was unnerving to see that the town had continued to grow and change in their absence, becoming something they didn’t even recognize.<br/><br/>The twins made their way through town, purposely skirting the major roads so as not to draw too much attention as they headed towards the far end of town where their mother’s home awaited. Vax could almost smell the home-cooked meal already on the stove and he smiled to himself, imagining the look of surprise and joy that would be on their mother’s face when her children finally returned home. They had waited nearly two years between the traveling time and the attempts to throw off their father’s men. They had waited for what felt like forever for this reunion. Vax felt his stomach churning nervously as he imagined all of the things he wanted to say, to tell his mother, and all of the things she might say in return looking on her children. <br/><br/>As they began to approach the small parcel of land where they had run amok as children, Vax slowed to a halt. The sight in front of him didn’t compute. The house was there- or at least the structure was somewhat physically present. Charred bits and fallen beams marred the visage; a humble home sundered and collapsing in on itself. The ground around the home was scorched and somewhat beginning to return. There was an initial moment of total calm as Vax surveyed the damage, trying to process what this meant. The home, <em>their home</em>, was a disaster site. In an instant, the calm of incomprehension gave way to a flooding sense of dread and terror as he rushed forward. His legs didn’t feel like they were moving fast enough as he pumped all of his speed into a dead sprint towards what had been the front door. He vaguely registered Vex next to him as he slammed into the front door and began scrambling at the boards fallen in front of the entrance. Ash and soot scraped under his fingernails as he clawed at the obstructions, trying to throw them to the side in desperation to get through. <em>Mom? Mom? Mom?</em> The words echoed in his head and might have spilled out into a desperate plea to the universe, increasing in volume and dismay with each cry. Part of his mind registered that the damage didn’t look fresh, but he couldn’t deal with processing that. All that mattered was getting through this and finding his mother. <br/><br/>Peeling board after board away, Vax opened a hole just barely big enough for himself to squeeze through and began to haul himself inside of the building. The walls didn’t feel fully stable as he forced his way into the house, falling onto his hands and knees as he tumbled through the opening. Dust unsettled, choking his cries as he continued to scramble forward, calling out for their mother. The ash was cold and the walls crumbling from long disuse and abandonment, but he couldn’t let himself think about what that might mean. It was like walking through a living nightmare. There was nowhere to look and nothing stable as he called out again, trying to find something to hang onto, something to anchor to. Vax pulled through the first room and after finding no one among the rubble began frantically digging through the next room that should have been the kitchen. For nearly an hour Vax clawed his way through the debris and wreckage, searching for something, anything that would make sense. He could hear Vex calling for him, shouting his name and begging him to come back out, but he couldn’t leave.<br/><br/> Standing among the ruins of your home is like watching every fond memory freeze and shatter simultaneously, lost and scattered and suddenly adrift. Vax stood there in the remains of what had been the twins’ bedroom, soot coating his arms and hands, tears staining his cheeks as it slowly began to sink in that there was nothing to salvage and no hope of saving anything here. The high hope he’d had for returning home seemed to crumble there to be left among the remains of their former life. He felt younger than he had in years, standing there feeling helpless and crying for his mother. He hadn’t allowed himself this level of vulnerability around Syldor, but he couldn’t hide it here. As much as he wanted to think of himself as being mostly grown, he felt like the small child being told he had to leave with his father that first time. He could feel his chest rising and falling too rapidly, threatening to hyperventilate as he looked around, experiencing the first real loss of a person he’d cared for.  He’d been so sure they would come home and everything would be alright. <em>Nothing was alright.</em><br/><br/>It took him a few minute to work his way back out through a mostly intact window on the far side of the structure, as he made his way back out to Vex. A tingly numbness had taken over his senses, dulling the pain to a manageable level that kept him functional enough to keep moving. One foot. Then the other. Vex looked as shattered as their home, her eyes red and tear stained although she didn’t seem to have any more tears to shed. Part of Vax knew he should feel guilty for leaving her alone to deal with this discovery, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel that or anything else. Vex slowly stood up from where she’d been cuddled around Trinket, unfurling herself unsteadily. Trinket rumbled and pressed up against her legs, seemingly confused and disoriented by this display of emotion from his person.<br/><br/>“She’s not in there,” he stated simply. His voice was hoarse from screaming, but he choked out the words, looking for some slight consolation. He was terrified to get his hopes up, to dare hope that maybe their mother had survived outside of the home. But even thinking about it, Vax knew deep in his gut that it was a comforting lie.<br/><br/> “We need answers.” He sputtered. Vex said nothing but rushed forward to pull him in to the tightest hug possible. Vax responded in kind, both siblings trying to hold each other together as if it would keep the rest of their world from falling apart around them. Vax lost track of how long they stood there, just trying to find the strength to keep breathing, but eventually exhaustion began to overtake the adrenaline of panic and he could feel his legs and arms shaking. Vex pulled back from the hug first, dabbing at her eyes to dry the tears that had begun to flow anew. She leaned down, twining a hand through Trinket’s fur to ground herself.<br/><br/>“We’re going to find out what happened,” her voice was steel, “ and we’re going to make this right, come hell or high water.” Vax nodded, knowing that there was no way to really make this right. They couldn’t undo whatever had happened. And if their mother hadn’t survived, there was nothing they could do that would bring her back. But they needed something to hang onto- <em>something to give them purpose now</em>. <br/><br/>“Pardon me,” a voice called out softly behind them, startling both twins who had been lost in their own loss, “Can I help you?” Vex and Vax spun around to look at a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a heavy paunch. Vax vaguely registered that the man looked familiar but couldn’t place his face or name with the maelstrom of emotions swirling in his head. <br/><br/>“Please,” Vex seemed to gather her words first, trying to choke them out, “Can you tell us what happened here?”<br/><br/>“You’re not from around here I take it,” The man nodded solemnly, “I hate to be the one to tell you then. A few years back half the town burned down. There was a red dragon that swept through the area, torched half the countryside down ‘round these southern parts. We was all hoping Syngorn would send support, but the dragon kept on moving. That’s a small blessing I suppose. Must’ve been eight years gone by now I suppose? We’ve mostly rebuilt but some places haven’t been touched yet. The folk with no family left… well no one knows what to do with those places so we’ve left ‘em mostly. The seamstress here had kids we thought, but no one’s been by so we just left the place for now.”<br/><br/>Vax felt his blood run cold. <em>Dragon. A few years back</em>. The details he’d noticed with new buildings and new construction suddenly made sense in the context of such mass scale destruction. The charring of their home made sense as a by-product of dragon fire. There’s nothing they would have been able to do about a dragon. <em>Eight years</em>. This must have happened shortly after they had left for Syngorn. Why hadn’t they heard about this? Why hadn’t their father told them? Had he even known? All this time, all these years that they had been planning on returning there had never been anywhere to return to. Maybe if they hadn’t gone with Syldor, they all could have escaped somewhere. <em>Maybe. Maybe. Maybe</em>. This man didn’t recognize them, but he seemed to know of their mother, and her missing children. <em>No one’s been by</em>. How long had they spent running around in circles when they could have come here to bring closure? How long had their home been held in this stasis of decay because they hadn’t returned?<br/><br/>“What happened to Elaina?” Vex’s voice shook as she asked the question that they both knew the answer to. They needed confirmation. They needed closure if the worst had happened. <br/><br/>The man raised an eyebrow at the question, surprised that these strangers knew the old seamstress’ name. He shifted uncomfortably for a moment, seeming to be uncertain how to break the news. “I’m real sorry for your loss. It seems you knew the woman who lived here, yeah? I didn’t know her that well, but she was a damn good seamstress and a good woman. She took care of lots of the young ‘uns around here after her kids went away. But… ah, well… lots of folks didn’t survive the dragon attack. She didn’t make it, unfortunately. It’s a shit way to go out, but I reckon she’s at peace now.” <br/><br/>The man paused, trying to read their reactions to the news before he hesitantly offered, “ I can show you where we buried the folks from the dragon attack if you want to say any goodbyes?” Vax kept his face stony, unable to process the swirl of emotions and therefore choosing to process none of them at that moment. Vex nodded sharply, not trusting her words to not break and betray the pain that threatened to overwhelm both of them with this news.  Vax couldn't bear to tell the man they were the children that hadn't returned. He couldn't bear that burden publicly right now. <br/><br/>The twins followed the man silently through some side streets to a further side of town, just past the small temple to Pelor. There was a small graveyard in the back of the temple with plots for the few wealthy families, and then a long stretch of graves in the way back for those of more common means. The man led them to a strip of land just outside the main plots that had a series of small stones marking dozens of resting places. The grass had regrown over the years, and if you hadn’t been looking for it, it would have been easy to bypass the swathe of graves. None of the stones were marked, perhaps as not all of the bodies were identifiable. There was a stillness to the air here, where even the earth seemed to hold its breath so as not to disturb those who suffered so greatly. The man took his leave hurriedly and left the twins and their bear cub staring silently at the patch of earth. <br/><br/>Vax blinked at the bare earth trying to process the story the man had relayed. He couldn’t reconcile his mother’s bright smile and her mischievous eyes with the blankness of the ground before him. He couldn’t reconcile his mother’s laughter with the stark silence that now filled the space where she supposedly lay. This couldn’t be right. She couldn’t be gone. There was so much he needed to say to her. He needed her love to feel worthwhile again. He needed her to tell him that it would all be okay.  Vex lowered herself slowly to her knees, sinking her fingers into the dirt and grasping at it as if it would somehow keep her from falling apart. Maybe if they wished hard enough, this would all be undone. Death was natural and normal, but this death was <em>too soon</em>. This death was <em>senseless and too much to bear</em>. Vax felt the tears beginning to flow freely again as he slammed his fists into his thighs in impotent rage at the universe for being so <em>unfair</em>, for being so <em>cruel</em>. He wasn’t sure which was worse- knowing that their mother was gone and they wouldn’t get to say goodbye, or knowing that they could have been together if only they had stayed a little while longer. <br/><br/>“She’s gone,” Vex sniffled after what felt like forever. Vax’s lungs ached from his uneven breathing and from trying to hold in the sobs that he wanted to let loose. He needed to get himself together, to be calm and collected if only for Vex’s sake. She hadn’t stood back up from her position, and while Trinket was doing his best to be cuddly, she had a thousand mile stare as she looked down at the ground with absolute dejection. Vax didn’t want to echo her assessment of the situation- somehow saying it out loud would make it real. <em>Maybe if he just chose not to acknowledge the loss…</em> <br/><br/>“<em>She’s gone</em>,” he finally nodded, feeling exhaustion wash over him as the acknowledgement overwhelmed every other conflicting feeling with a sense of finality. Their mother had died. Their home was gone. It was them against the world- there was no one else who would or who could understand them and the magnitude of this loss. There was nothing else here for them beyond the pain of memory. <br/><br/>“I’m going to find that fucking dragon,” Vex began to pull herself to her feet despite Trinket’s protestations at being moved. Vax looked at his sister somewhat blankly, unable to think about the future yet. “<em>I’m going to find that fucking dragon</em>,” Vex repeated, “<em>And we’re going to kill that fucker</em>.” Her words came out with such conviction that Vax felt himself believing that this was the only possible outcome. There was a broken light in her eyes, like a candle flickering and struggling to stay lit. She was shattered, but that fire wasn’t completely gone. And if given fuel and time, that fire would grow to overwhelm anything in its’ path, Vax knew. He nodded slowly, silently committing himself to follow his sister wherever she would lead on this quest. There was nothing they could do to undo this hell. There was nothing they could do that would make this right. But vengeance- that was something they could do. And vengeance, anger, retribution… that gave direction more than this pain. Vengeance was a purpose to replace the hope and the goals they had harbored for the return home.</p><hr/><p>Vax found himself lying awake in the dead of night, staring up at the cluster of stars far above them. Vex was curled in on herself, wrapped partially around Trinket and partially around one of the books they had picked up. Every time they had stopped into a town in the last few weeks, Vex had made it her personal mission to find every bit of lore and knowledge available regarding dragons. They’d spent a good portion of their funds on acquiring books, and some books were procured with a distraction and quick hands if the cost was too high. Vex would stop to talk to the old washer women and anyone else who would give them the time of day to relate any stories they’d heard of dragons in the area, or even in general. Some of the stories were too fantastic to be true. Some might have been true but it was hard to gauge the veracity when told among other tall tales. Some had useful bits of information, describing the crimson red wings signaling death from above, and describing the range of the flaming breath and the damage it could deal. Vex committed every story to memory and to a thick notebook she’d begun to carry around. It was the one thing that seemed to give her purpose and drive was to find out as much information as she could about this dragon and the art of killing dragons in general. <br/><br/>Vax sighed, wishing he could roll over and sleep peacefully for once, but he hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep since they’d sat in front of their mother’s unmarked grave. He hadn’t been ready to deal with that level of loss. He hated feeling like there was nothing he could do, but in this case he had no real recourse. There was no one he could turn to except for Vex, but she too was struggling with this. He worried about how deeply she had thrown herself into this research- she was eating, sleeping, and breathing dragons. Vax would have sworn if Trinket hadn’t been around Vex wouldn’t have remembered to eat. As much as he hadn’t been initially sure about having a bear cub as part of their little family, Vax had gotten quite attached to the little fuzz ball, and was glad that it seemed to be an anchor for his sister. When Vax couldn’t console her or bring her back down from the intensity of her focus, Trinket would cuddle up into her and huff loudly, whining for attention until Vex couldn’t ignore the furry baby in her lap. Trinket was attached to her at the hip and seemed to understand when she needed support even better than Vax did lately. Vax smiled in spite of himself looking over at Trinket, nuzzling into Vex’s side. This was a strange, broken little family, but it was family all the same. <br/><br/>“You should get some sleep,” Vax mumbled, sitting up. He wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, but maybe he could convince Vex to take a break. There were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep or just general exhaustion. Vax couldn’t be sure anymore which was worse- the physical ache from traveling with a metric ton of books, or the emotional ache that he wasn’t sure would ever truly heal. Vex grunted back at him and turned the page in her book. <br/><br/>“When was the last time you got some rest? It’s my turn to watch,” Vax tried again, scooting himself over to bump his head into her shoulder lightly. <br/><br/>“I don’t need rest right now,” she muttered back, turning another page. Vax had always been impressed by how quickly she could read, but he wasn’t even sure if she was reading right now or just trying to ignore him. <br/><br/>“<em>Bullshit Stubby</em>,” Vax reached forward, laying his hand across the book to block the pages from view. Vex looked up sharply, anger and frustration and pain in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to smack him, but the anger faded just as fast as it seemed to rise. “You <em>need</em> sleep. You’re burning yourself out.”<br/><br/>“I need <em>answers</em>, Vax,” She whispered back, her brow furrowing as her gaze dropped. “There was a dragon and we didn’t know anything about it. Mom… Mom was all alone against this thing. I don’t ever want to be caught unaware like that. I need to know what we’re up against. I need to know more. I need…”<br/><br/>“You need <em>sleep</em>. The books will still be here in the morning. And Trinket and I will be right here. You’re not alone, and we’re not unaware. We’ll be okay.” Vax tried to keep his tone as even as he could, pretending he was much more confident in these answers than he actually felt. He understood how alone she was feeling, even with the other twin right there. He understood how this had turned everything upside down and how it felt to be grasping at some semblance of order in a world that seemed to be chaos for the sake of chaos. But he also knew that if they both panicked at the same time all hell would break loose. Only one of them could be a mess at a time, and Vex needed this time. Vax smiled, trying his best to exude reassurance and certainty as he ruffled Vex’s hair. <br/><br/>“Trinket needs you in top shape, yeah? Unless you want <em>me</em> to be in charge of training him… You gotta be rested up.” Trinket chuffed, blowing a warm breath over both of them as if in agreement. Vex looked back and forth between the boys before finally nodding and slowly closing the book. <br/><br/>“Over my dead body are you training my bear,” Vex muttered half to herself as she begrudgingly situated herself, pulling the bedroll up to tuck under her chin. Vax resisted the urge to retort, settling himself in for a long night’s watch. Trinket snuggled into Vex’s side immediately, leaving Vax wanting for the extra warmth. The bear cub had already grown considerably in the time they had been caring for him. At this point he was getting too big to carry, although Trinket didn’t seem to fully understand the practicality of this. Vax looked out over the darkened woods, sighing to himself. The home he’d thought he had was gone. Syngorn had never been home. Byroden was better left in the past at this point. <em>Home,</em> he decided, <em>was wherever Vex and Trinket were.</em></p><hr/><p>“We need to talk,” Vax could feel his heart in his throat as he tried to sit Vex down. It was getting to be too much. He had been wearing a mask of perpetual joviality to try and keep things light, and that hadn’t worked. He’d tried to be comforting and supportive, but that didn’t seem to be getting through either. He’d tried to keep her focused, giving her trouble and tasks to distract her, but she ignored that as well. Except for caring for Trinket, Vex hadn’t been herself in nearly two weeks. She hadn’t been eating or sleeping. She had been picking fights in every town they passed through, and Vax had been trying to pull them back before anything got too out of hand. <br/><br/>Vex crossed her arms, her jaw set stubbornly as she sat across from her brother. She already seemed to have written off everything he was about to say, but Vax wasn’t about to give up. He needed his sister back, and whatever was going on in this moment he didn’t recognize her. Trinket lolled about in the grass next to them, seemingly oblivious to the tension rising between them. Vax held his breath, trying to count his heartbeats to calm down. He didn’t know how to get through to her like this. They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither being able to bring themselves to make the first move or to meet each other’s eyes. Finally Vax broke.<br/><br/>“I can’t lose you too,” his voice cracked as the words fumbled out, feeling the raw truth of the confession washing over him. “We’ve already lost everything else and I feel like I’m losing you and <em>I can’t</em>… I can’t lose you too. Don’t you get that?”<br/><br/>Vex looked up sharply as if having been slapped. Her eyes watered up as she looked at her brother. For the first time in days her face wasn’t just a solid mask of indifference. “What?” her lip quivered as she spat the question out, trying to hold back the tears threatening to break her façade of strength. <br/><br/>“I’m watching you run yourself into the ground like you don’t give a damn what happens to you.<em> I can’t get through to you</em>. I’m scared, Vex. I’m scared that you’re <em>trying</em> to fuck yourself up. I’m scared of losing you. I can’t take that too. I can’t… I’m <em>barely</em> holding this together and I can’t do this without you.”<br/><br/>“I’m…” Vex trailed off, unable to follow through on whatever excuse she was about to offer. She looked down, not able to meet his eyes. Vax stepped forward pulling his sister in for a hug. She’d been avoiding him the last few days, storming off every time he’d gotten too close. He needed a connection to keep his feet on the ground. Watching her spiraling was watching a part of himself losing control. Vax ran a hand through his sister’s hair before instinctively beginning to untangle some of the knots that had formed while she’d been in her funk. <br/><br/>“C’mere,” Vax mumbled spinning her around to begin braiding her hair. His fingers worked swiftly, twisting the strands into a neat braid the way he’d learned to years ago. Their mother had always braided their hair, keeping it out of their faces while they had run around. He’d learned how to copy those braids while they were in Syngorn since their father obviously wasn’t going to do it. Some of the other boys had mocked him for knowing how to braid hair, but it had been a source of comfort for him. It was something to keep him connected to his mother. It was something to focus on that required a clear mind and precision. It was a skill like any other- girly or not- and it was something that he could share with Vex. Even when she complained that he pulled her hair too hard, Vex always came back to ask him to braid her hair again. It was an act of service to show the affection that they couldn’t get any other way. In this moment it was exactly what he needed to calm himself down- watching his fingers work their way through her hair to pull it all together to look somewhat less chaotic for the first time in days. <br/><br/>“Thanks,” Vex mumbled, tracing her hand over the new braid slowly as she turned back around to face her brother. <br/><br/>“Not yet,” Vax shifted her back again so that he could finish the final touches on the braid. Reaching into his side pouch, he pulled out three bright blue feathers. He’d gathered them the other day when Vex had stormed off again, leaving him alone in the woods. He’d gone for a walk on his own, trying to clear his head and had come across a cluster of fallen feathers, the sapphire color vivid even in shadows. He didn’t know what type of creature had feathers like this, but running his hands across the velvety edges he knew Vex would appreciate the rarity. Vax worked the feathers into the braid, twining them in with a small blue ribbon to keep them in place. As he finished twisting the feathers into her hair, Vax stepped back, smiling softly. <br/><br/>“I know you feel lost and alone and hurt… <em>I get that</em>. I might be the <em>only</em> person who can get that because I’m going through that hell too. I know how much you want to fight, like maybe that will make this all okay. I know how much you want to run, like maybe if we go far enough it’ll all make sense and everything will be better. I know how much you want to give up- <em>I want to every fucking day</em>. But we can’t. Not today. Not ever. I found these feathers when I felt like I was going to fall apart because I was losing you. And… I don’t know where they come from. But I feel like… like maybe it’s from Mom. Like she’s still watching us and checking in. There’s three feathers- one for you, one for me, and one for Trinket now. Like she’s looking over us and she wanted to give us something bright to hang onto. Feathers fall and are lost but the birds keep rising and keep flying and moving forward. I dunno, I just… I thought maybe this would remind you that there’s still bright spots, there’s still good even among all this utter shit. We can’t give up yet.” Vax’s shoulders slumped forward, feeling a weight lifted from holding that in. He didn’t know if it would actually get through to her, but at least he’d been honest and had tried.<br/><br/>Vex’s eyes locked onto the gift, entranced by the coloration as she ran her fingertips across the edges to trace each long feather. She said nothing for a minute, just stroking the soft feathers in her hair as soft tears trailed down her cheeks. Finally she looked up, her eyes softer. Vax smiled back, finally recognizing his sister again after days of feeling like he was walking with a stranger. <br/><br/>“You really think they’re from her?” She asked gently, the words barely a whisper. <br/><br/>“I’d like to think so.”<br/><br/>“Vax, what are we doing?” Vex leaned forward, resting her forehead on her brother’s shoulder.  <br/><br/>“We’re surviving as best as we can. And we’ll get through this somehow, as long as we’re together, yeah?” he sniffled, wiping his arm across his face.  <br/><br/>Vex nodded without raising her head. “Together,” she mumbled, “I feel like a little kid, like I’m so far out of my depth with this all. It’s all too much.”<br/><br/>“I know,” he looked up at the sky, blinking back tears, “I know. One step at a time. We’ll be okay. Not today, but we will. I got you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. You are. We are.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vex and Vax take up adventuring as a career. And the Twins meet Keyleth.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong><span class="u">You are. We are.</span></strong><br/>"...And in our travels, We found our roads, You held it like a mirror, showing me the life I chose..." -"Dear Fellow Traveler", Sea Wolf</p>
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<p>“Brother, dear, what do you think?” Vex smiled sickly sweet at the man across the counter, not turning to look at Vax. She leaned forward, leaning heavily onto the counter as she spoke, “75 gold to track down this monstrosity and to return with it’s head?”<br/><br/>Vax rolled his eyes at his sister’s antics. On one hand he couldn’t help but be mildly impressed that she was almost always able to talk their clients into a higher price. But at the same time, wanted to gag watching her flirt with every potential client. Trinket poked his massive head into the doorway of the tavern where they were sitting, letting out a low groan of impatience. <br/><br/>“Sounds reasonable to me,” Vax leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms across his chest. The money didn’t matter as much to him as it did to her. Truthfully he just appreciated taking these jobs because it kept them busy. It was a strange way to make a living, but it was better than having free time. And the busier he was on these contracted jobs, the less time he spent in cities where the Clasp could call on him. It had been nearly a year now since they had last called on him to complete a job, and he was perfectly content to keep that distance. Besides, some of the jobs they did helped people who really needed help, and that felt good. It was nice to feel useful, like he was capable of doing some good as well. Vex usually complained that those jobs paid less well, but part of the reward was in the feeling of satisfaction that came with delivering good news. <br/><br/>“Well then, you have a deal,” Vex winked, a coy smile creeping across her face and earning a blush from the bearded gentleman across the way. He shifted in his seat, looking down embarrassedly. <br/><br/>“Half up front, and half upon completion,” Vex reached out her hand expectantly, grinning wider as a hefty sack of coins was placed into her outstretched palm. She bounced the pouch for a moment, mentally weighing the gold before she swept it into her side satchel. Vex leaned forward for a moment, winking slyly at their client before spinning off of her stool.<br/><br/>“Well then, Brother, we must be off. Plenty of work to do!” Vex was up and moving away without a second glance. Vax nodded at the client before sweeping after her, a step behind her but keeping pace. Trinket bounded up to them, greeting them with a headbutt as they emerged back into the sunlight. Vax leaned into the headbutt, scratching behind Trinket’s ears and muttering praise to the bear. He wasn’t a fan of sitting in on these negotiations- it was always awkward asking about money and he didn’t like having to show his face that much. Vex, however, loved it. It was her chance to shine again. Much to Vax’s chagrin though Vex adamantly refused to let him wait outside with Trinket. <br/><br/>“Now that you’re done flirting, can we get on with this? What are we looking for again?” Vax stood up, brown fur covering his black cloak. Trinket licked a long line of slobber across his face, making Vax chuckle. Vex wrinkled her nose, scoffing in disgust. In front of clients Vex liked to put on a show of sorts- making the twins seem like true professionals and sophisticated mercenaries. While it was fun occasionally to pretend to be someone else, Vax far preferred coming out of those meetings and immediately falling back into a goofy ease with Trinket and his sister. He could be himself in front of them without having to try and pretend to be put together. <br/><br/>“Gods, the two of you are gross,” She muttered, starting towards the road.<br/><br/>“You looooove us,” Vax called after her, keeping pace with Trinket. There was no doubt that Trinket was Vex’s bear, and Trinket would always side with Vex, but Vax loved testing that and annoying his sister by encouraging Trinket’s bad behavior. Trinket waddled along happily, content to be beside his people again. <br/><br/>“I’m sincerely questioning that,” Vex called back over her shoulder without turning around. Vax shrugged at the bear. <br/><br/>He leaned against the bear, mumbling his plans for new pranks to Trinket as they walked just outside of Vex’s earshot. It helped to talk through some of his plans first, to work out the logistics, and Trinket was an excellent listener. Vex would get him back for the prank later, but it helped to keep things from getting too heavy. They had spent so much time when they were younger trying to pretend to have it all together that they never really had the chance to be foolish. Syldor had no patience for Vax’s tomfoolery, but now there was no one to tell him no. One of the few perks of being an adult was that no one could stop you from doing all of the stupid things that sounded like a good idea in your head. And while Vex might get her revenge in far worse ways, Vax needed those little moments of revelry to keep himself balanced. <br/><br/>Over the last few years of their travels they had fallen into comfortable patterns, each coming out of their old habits of survival to try and find a new sense of self. They hadn’t fully shed all of their ticks, but after losing everything you understand about yourself, there has to be some sort of resurrection and redefinition. A part of the twins had died alongside their mother’s grave, leaving behind what little had remained of their sense of place in the world. It had been a rollercoaster of emotions, but they had each found their own ways to cope, and in doing so found things that made them happy and gave them a newfound sense of self. Vex had leaned into trying to convince everyone she was the person she’d always wanted to be- and she was a damn good liar. Sometimes Vax wasn’t entirely sure if she was trying to convince everyone else, or if she was trying to convince herself. She held herself aloof with a fabricated air of nobility, her pride almost a caricature of the proper lady their father had hoped for. Albeit her occasional pridefulness was tempered by the realities of their situation. Vax never missed an opportunity to bring her down a few pegs, either through pranks or just general ridiculousness. He’d found a freedom in not needing to pretend to be anyone of importance. There was a lightness in being no one- a lack of pressure from expectations. It had been exhausting to always feel like he was on display, like every move he made was under intense scrutiny as a reflection of his upbringing. He had hated always being under the microscope. There was a simple joy in the anonymity of being just Vax. <br/><br/>Vex’s suggestion to go into the adventuring business had taken some heavy convincing, but it had ended up being exactly what they needed. It gave them a sense of direction and purpose to their perpetual wanderings. Even with a sense of direction, Vax still felt lost sometimes. Jumping from job to job was one thing, but it was still just them against the world. While he had convinced himself that they only needed their little unit, it was hard not to feel adrift without an anchor. Life on the road had gotten comfortable through habit, and through practice the twins had learned to pass through life without being noticed. But a part of him would always wonder in the dead of night what would happen if they settled down somewhere- <em>if they didn’t feel the need to run forever</em>. He would never admit that aloud, but the question lingered in his dreams.<br/><br/></p>
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<p><em>“Be Careful,</em>” Vex had warned him before he’d left for the evening. She never tried to stop him really, but she was always there to pick him back up if and when he fell. Vax was silently grateful that she never asked too many questions abut what he was doing or how he managed his end of the business. It had been strange, keeping secrets at first, but it had gotten easier over time. It wasn’t even truly keeping secrets, Vax had reasoned with himself, as much as it was simply not telling everything. They were bound at the hip in so many ways, but they were also their own individuals with separate needs, wants, fears, goals… Vax tapped his fingers against the stone impatiently. He hated waiting this long- it gave him too much time to think. <br/><br/>Whenever the clasp reached out to him to complete a job there was a gut-wrenching decision of whether to follow through or not. The answer was always the same though- he would do whatever they asked as long as it kept Vex safe. When they had stopped into Kymal, Vax had checked in with one of his contacts to find out about any open contracts for their hunting business. The knock on the inn door had come a few hours later, with a piece of paper slipped into the room with the details of the mission. Vex had bugged him for the thousandth time to teach her thieves cant, and for a moment he had considered it if for no other reason than to get her off his back. But it was easier to keep secrets if she couldn’t just read over his shoulder. And as long as she didn’t know what he was doing, she had plausible deniability. <br/><br/>This job would be simple in theory- a client needed a competitor to disappear. There would be some gold in it for him at the end, and all he had to do was make sure the kill was quiet and efficient. Vax glanced over his shoulder again, checking that no one had trailed him. Seeing no one, Vax made his way into the tavern, adopting a slight limp and keeping his hood up as he went. It always surprised him how something as simple as changing one’s gait could convince people that you weren’t the same individual. <br/><br/>The interior was simple, ale stained wood with round tables and stools scattered about in rows that had been rearranged by drunk clientele. Faded parchment hung nailed to the inside of the entrance archway advertising a traveling circus and other oddities that might catch the attention of the establishment regulars. A jaunty tune blasted out from the far corner of the tavern where a trio of musicians danced and drunkenly continued their routine a bit off key. Vax surveyed the scene as he walked towards the bar, blending in effortlessly to his surroundings, only drawing attention to himself to order a pint. His eyes locked onto the figure sitting at a table near the musicians- bright red hair and a long, unkempt beard, half a dozen gold earrings outlining his long, eleven ears. Vax shifted to the side, nursing his pint as he kept a careful eye on the target out of the corner of his eye. The figure seemed to be deep into his cups, which could be easier, or more unpredictable. <br/><br/>Hours passed by before the figure finally moved to stumble away from the bar. Vax had nearly fallen asleep, bored out of his mind from waiting. As he flipped his dagger impatiently in his hand, needing to fidget with something, the target bumped past his table and shuffled towards the door. Vax held his breath, waiting a few moments before following him out the door. He’d perfected the art of trailing his marks so as to stay out of range of suspicion. The exaggerated limp gave him enough of a delay to stay about a block behind the red-haired elf as he staggered into the darkened streets. Making a note of his location, Vax ducked into a nearby alley, propelling himself up and onto a low stone wall. It was just enough of a boost to leap up and onto the rooftop, his feet landing softly, silently against the shingles. Keeping his cloak pulled tight around him, Vax stayed low and glided along the rooftop, bounding from one building to the next with ease. The beauty of cities with close buildings was that they created entirely new pathways for those nimble enough to utilize them. <br/><br/>The target came back into view quickly, having paused to vomit behind a barrel at the street corner. Vax pressed himself low against the roof, waiting for the opportune moment. The figured stepped back, haphazardly angling into a nearby alley, seeming to mistake it for the path home. Soft, drunken humming drifted up to the rooftop as Vax shifted around to keep eyes on his target. It was almost too easy. His dagger slid out of the belt sheath with s soft hiss of metal on metal, the dull blade glistening with a slight viscous liquid along the edge. Poisons were too expensive to use on a regular basis, and far too difficult to come by usually. Vex had been learning to distill some of the venom from creatures they’d hunted, but that was a dangerous and time-consuming process. But, for a job like this, it was worthwhile to use a little bit of his poison stash, just to ensure that the job was finished properly. The slight acidity of the poison had dulled the shine on the blade, but the edge was still razor sharp. Vax balanced the blade ever so carefully in his hand, letting the weight adjust in his grip until it felt like an extension of his fingertips. He counted the steps the target took. <em>One. Two. Three. Stagger left. Four. Five. Stagger right. Six. Seven.</em> As Vax came to the count of eight, he flicked his wrist, compensating for the target’s trajectory as the blade spun end over end in a death spiral towards its final destination. The blade sunk into the back of the man’s neck without a sound. The man spun around, eyes wide with fear but no scream seemed to emit from his open lips as either the alcohol or the poison seemed to dull his senses and reactions. Vax flicked out another blade from his other side, shooting his hand forward to release the projectile even as he pushed himself over the edge of the roof. As he landed with a soft whoosh of his cloak, the dagger met its mark a second time, now protruding from the front of his neck. He couldn’t have made a noise if he’d wanted to, other than the barely audible gurgling of blood past his severed windpipe as he collapsed onto the ground in a heap.<br/><br/> Vax stood up to his full height, stalking over to retrieve his daggers. Throwing them was so efficient at dealing damage from hiding, but once they were thrown there was the issue of no longer having access to those daggers. Vax cleaned off the blades, reaffixing them to his belt where there were a few other daggers still sheathed in case of an emergency. He looked down at the body of the man he’d been paid to kill, momentarily wondering what this man’s life was like. <em>Who was he? Did he have a family? Did he really deserve to die?</em> Vax gritted his teeth, trying to fight off these thoughts. He was paid to kill, not to ask philosophical questions about right and wrong. And yet, with each kill Vax found himself still trying to come to terms with the direction his life had taken. Killing was a little <em>too easy</em>. Life was so fragile that a single, unexpected attack from the right vantage point could end it all in the blink of an eye. He didn’t need to get up close to look someone in the eye as he ended their life- he could do it from a dozen paces off and never have to see the target’s face. To keep it separated <em>they were targets</em>- they weren’t people he was killing. <em>It was just another job</em>.<br/><br/> Vax struggled for a moment, trying to haul the body off to the side and out of view. There was no good way to hide the body here, but it had been the most opportune moment to make good on his end of the arrangement. He didn’t want to know what Vex would think of him if she knew how easy it was for him to throw that dagger- how he had gotten over the hesitancy of hurting someone. If it was kill or be killed, he would throw the first hit any time. While practice had tempered some of his impulses, he’d learned to harness that instinctual desire to jump into danger. It gave him an edge. He was careful to an extent- enough to keep his wits about himself and to keep an eye out for the hidden dangers of the world. But with overt dangers, it was better to be the danger. The world was harsh and cruel and there were so many people that would hate senselessly and cause harm to others. There were so few truly good people that he’d met, although he was always hoping to find them. Maybe even he wasn’t <em>a good man</em>- maybe that wasn’t in the cards. But he was <em>damn good</em> at what he did. <br/><br/></p>
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<p>Vex had yelled at him after he’d agreed to take this job. Maybe she was right, he began to think, laying in the soggy mess of the swamp bank. She’d suggested they take a job in Stillben since they needed the money. In his defense, it was her fault he was left alone to make the deal. The father that he’d been approached by had been so desperate and Vax couldn’t bear to turn him down. It wasn’t a lot of money being offered, but Vax didn’t want to ask for any more, fearing the man was already offering everything he had. This wasn’t going to be a profitable venture, but the idea of breaking a curse and helping an entire town… that was worthwhile on its own in his book. As his own blood was beginning to pool down his chest though, Vax was second guessing if a feel good mission was worth his own life. <br/><br/>With quick, shallow breaths he could feel the muscles tense involuntarily where the gash had severed through something probably important. Vex brushed a hand through his hair, her eyes darting around between his wound and their surroundings, trying to get a grip on the situation. Seeing no immediate danger, she focused her attention on applying pressure to the largest wound. Vax sucked in air sharply as she leaned into the gash, feeling like his ribs were going to crack under the pressure of her guilt driven medical support. <br/><br/>As Vex began to puzzle through the incongruencies of the unexpected Ghormauth attack, Vax let his head loll to the side. He would try to help with the unraveling of this mystery when he felt less like dying, but in that moment much of her musings sounded like distant, incomprehensible ramblings. He was sure that there was logic in there, but his brain couldn’t keep up with her process in that moment. He just needed to take a nap. As his eyes struggled to focus a strange, tiny figure scurried across the embankment next to him. He could have almost sworn it was a little red squirrel, the bushy tail twitching nervously behind as it scampered up to get a better vantage point. Instinctively, Vax began to laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation. <br/><br/>“I’m hallucinating,” he managed to gasp between the fits of laughter. Vex frowned deeply, brushing her hand over his forehead to feel for a fever. “I just saw that squirrel wave at me!” <br/><br/>“You’ve lost a lot of blood. I’ll get you back to town,” Vex’s voice betrayed an edge of urgency and worry as she began to gather herself up. <br/><br/>“That squirrel just gave me the most intelligent look I’ve ever seen from an animal,” Vax continued chuckling to himself. He blinked hard, trying to see if that would make the strange squirrel go away, but the fuzzy red squirrel remained when he opened his eyes, head cocked to the side as if trying to understand what was wrong with him. For a moment, Vax wondered himself what was wrong with him- other than the obvious loss of blood. <br/><br/>“What?” Vex scoffed, “ There’s no squirrels out here.” She shook her head as if that much was obvious. Vax didn’t need to be a ranger to know that squirrels didn’t really make their homes in swamps, usually for good reason. Vax nodded emphatically- she’d finally grasped onto what made the whole thing ridiculous. Jabbing a finger in the direction of the squirrel, Vax continued laughing to himself. If Vex didn’t see the squirrel then he really was losing his mind. As Vex turned her attention to where Vax was pointing, her eyes went wide, blinking in surprise at a squirrel that most definitely should not have been there. A beat passed where there seemed to be a staring contest between Vex and the squirrel as Vax lay semi-conscious between the two, before a burst of purple pink light spread over the area. Vax squinted, raising a hand painfully to shield his eyes from the surge of light. As he opened his eyes to look back, Vax found himself blinking in stunned shock. Where the squirrel had been sitting a moment ago there was now a tall, fair woman with long red hair. She smiled innocently at them as she patted down her green dress. Two protrusions poked out from where they were tangled into her hair and Vax could have sworn they looked like tiny antlers. She was stunning, still bathed in the flickering light of her transformation as Vax blinked at her in complete incomprehension.<br/><br/>“Ahem,” the girl sputtered, coughing as the residual light dissipated, “It’s because I haven’t figured out gills yet, okay? Also, Hello!”<br/><br/>In an instant Vex was on her feet with her bow drawn, dropping Vax flat onto his back from where she’d been propping him up.  He groaned in pain but she didn’t seem to notice, her attention utterly transfixed on the suddenly transformed figure before them.<br/><br/>“Who are you?” Vex demanded, eying the stranger over the tip of a nocked arrow.<br/><br/>“Oh, I’m… no… I’m nobody. I’m… It’s not important… I’m Keyleth,” the girl stammered, raising a hand innocently to wave. Her shoulders shrugged up nervously as she introduced herself, smiling with the most genuine look of good intention that Vax had seen in a long, long time. <br/><br/>“I’m dying,” Vax laughed to himself, babbling at no one in particular, “I’m dying and I’m hallucinating a squirrel who can turn into people.”<br/><br/>Keyleth put down her hand hesitantly, as If unsure how to respond as Vex refused to put the bow down. Awkwardly sidestepping, Keyleth shuffled over towards corpse of the Shark-speaker the twins had taken down moments before. Vax gritted his teeth, pushing himself up to a somewhat sitting position. His head swam as he changed elevation, the blood loss leaving him somewhat woozy and nauseous. <br/><br/>“Wow,” Keyleth pointed at the deceased monstrosity, half poking out of the murky swamp waters, “You slit its throat. From behind.” She seemed to be piecing through the obvious facts of the situation as if trying to process the sequence of events in the slowest possible way. <br/><br/>“Yes,” Vax grunted, holding a hand to his chest to keep pressure on the wound, “Safest way.” He started to shrug before stopping at the shooting pain that emanated from any quick movements. <br/><br/>“I guess so! I’ve just never seen anything like this,” Keyleth poked at the body with the end of her staff, seeming fascinated by the whole ordeal, “What is it?”<br/><br/>“It’s a shark-speaker. This is their swamp,” Vex stated. Narrowing her eyes suspiciously she lowered the bow. Keyleth seemed harmless enough, if a bit clueless.<br/><br/>“Neat!” Keyleth beamed.<br/><br/>The twins exchanged a glance, silently sharing their confusion and settling an argument as to how to respond to the stranger in seconds. Vex rolled her eyes at Vax’s silent insistence not to cause more trouble. “<em>Neat</em>…” they both echoed. Vax cocked his head, looking more closely at the not hallucinatory person, simultaneously baffled and intrigued by her. <br/><br/>“You also got bit,” Keyleth turned around, pointing at Vax’s open, shirt, the blood soaking through the bandages Vex had hastily applied. <br/><br/>“What?” Vax stammered, caught off guard by her sudden interest in him. “Oh, it’s nothing…” Vax looked away, feeling the tips of his ears burning red, suddenly embarrassed to be caught off guard. Vex stifled a gag next to him as he swatted at her leg. He hated asking for help in general, and especially not from strangers. <em>Especially not from pretty strangers</em>. Especially not from strangers who transformed out of animals in the middle of dangerous swamps.<br/><br/>“The water in this swamp is dangerous,” Keyleth took a step forward towards him, “Especially if it gets in an open wound. Here, let me.” She moved forward to kneel next to him, her hand outstretched towards his chest. Vax instinctively scuttled backwards, clutching his shirt closed. Internally he wanted to scream at the sharp burst of pain that shocked his senses at that action, but he bit his tongue to stifled any noise. <em>Trust was earned- not just given out to random strangers.</em> He stared back at her like a cornered animal, the obvious suspicion sharpening his gaze to focus. He could hear his heartbeat hammering in his ears with the same intensity as when he knew he had to run. Every instinct was screaming to run. <br/><br/>“<em>Trust me</em>,” Keyleth paused, pulling her hand back so as to not spook him further. She smiled softly, her eyes bright with hopeful eagerness. Vax blinked rapidly, looking for any signs of ulterior motives or malice, but he couldn’t find any hints at ill intent. She genuinely seemed like she wanted to help. For a moment, he could almost believe that maybe, just maybe, this was one of those rare good people in the world that he was constantly on the look out for. He was always hoping to find people that actually meant to do good, meant to help and make things better, and maybe one of those people had found him here in the least likely of places. <em>Maybe…</em>  He could feel the blood still slipping from the wound with each breath, making the nausea and lightheadedness worse with each passing moment. Vax looked up at his sister, her hand still on her bow just in case. Maybe he didn’t need to trust Keyleth, but he could trust that Vex wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him.  <br/><br/>Hesitantly, moving as slowly as possible to give himself time to change his mind, Vax began to lower his hand. His eyes darted to the ground, half expecting something terrible to happen. He didn’t want to face the consequences of his impulsive decision to trust this stranger. As his hand pulled back, the shirt fell open and the bandages mostly dropped into his lap without the pressure holding them in place. Bits of the bandages still stayed in place, the blood sticky if not partially dried. Keyleth reached forward, peeling the bandages away carefully. Vax flinched instinctively, but she continued clearing the wound ever so slowly, like soothing a wounded animal. <br/><br/>Her fingers were cool to the touch as they ghosted across his chest before splaying across the open wound. Vax’s eyes shot up to meet hers, panic beginning to rise in his breathing. His eyes locked onto hers as a calming sensation washed over him. He couldn’t explain why he trusted her in that moment, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was going to help him. Vax swallowed hard, not breaking eye contact. Her eyes began to glow with a slight green hint as the same ethereal glow emanated from her hand. A warm, soothing buzz seemed to spread out from where her fingers pressed into his skin. He couldn’t help the tiny sigh of relief as he subconsciously leaned into her hand. As she pulled her hand away the green light remained, seeming to dance across his skin before fading, leaving nothing but a small faint scar in its wake. It looked as though it had been healing for months and had healed far better than most of his other scars. <br/><br/>“Huh,” Vax looked down, trying to process the warmth that still emanated from where her hand had been. He still felt sluggish from the blood loss, but at least the pain had subsided, and the nausea was mostly gone now.<br/><br/>“You’re welcome,” Keyleth smiled softly at him, still kneeling next to him. There was an unspoken acknowledgement that passed between them- an uneasy but earned trust. It was the strangest feeling, trusting someone other than Vex, but she seemed harmless. If anything, she looked sincerely happy to help.<br/><br/>“He means ‘thank you’,” Vex flicked him in the side of the head, as Vax stared dumbly at his chest, still fascinated by whatever magic she’d used to heal him.<br/><br/>“So, you’re like… twins?” Keyleth sat back on her haunches, seeming to be really observing them for the first time. <br/><br/>“Yeah,” Vex nodded. Her eyebrow still raised at her brother. Vax was engrossed in his own world, running a finger along the new scar. It felt solid and whole. <br/><br/>“Wow, that’s so cool! Do you like… finish each other’s sentences?” Keyleth’s eyes lit up, bubbly curiosity returning to the forefront of her expression. The twins both frowned at the question, exchanging another quick glance. Everyone always wanted to treat them as one entity together- Vex and Vax, the twins. They’d worked so hard to develop themselves as individuals lately that they resented the implication again that they were only half of a whole. <br/><br/>“No,” they said in unison, before Vex continued, “I mean, <em>sometimes</em> Vax stabs someone but his poisons are old and the guy doesn’t die right away and I have to kill him. That’s… sort of the same?”<br/><br/>“I didn’t know you did that,” Vax perked up, tearing his attention away from Keyleth for the first time since this ordeal had begun. <br/><br/>“Well, I don’t make a big deal about it. I know poison is hard to come by,” Vex shrugged, seeming embarrassed at getting caught doing something nice for her brother. <br/><br/>“That’s… That’s actually really sweet of you…” <br/><br/>“Hey, what are sisters for?” Vex looked away.<br/><br/>“Wow, you really are twins!” Keyleth beamed, brushing her hair behind her ears as she looked back and forth between the two of them. Vax shifted his gaze towards her, his eyes catching on the small, pointed tips of her ears as she tucked the loose strands back. His eyes opened wider, the slow realization dawning on him. She was like them. Her ears weren’t rounded like a human, but they weren’t long enough to be a full elf like he’d initially assumed. She was othlir too. This stranger that had appeared out of nowhere to help him, to do a good thing… she was just like him.  Keyleth shifted uncomfortably, seeming suddenly self-conscious as Vax realized he’d been staring. <br/><br/>“Forgive my brother,” Vex assessed the situation and interjected before he could say anything stupid, “He’s never seen another Othlir before.” <br/><br/>“What’s an othlir?” Keyleth cocked her head to the side, looking genuinely confused by the phrase. Vax made a mental note she was probably raised by humans if she didn’t understand that term. He faintly wondered if humans would have been less cruel about their heritage. <br/><br/>“You are. We are,” Vex explained, “It’s Elven for Ill-Born.” <br/><br/>Vax could feel the same frustration and hurt welling up as he always did when this phrase came into use. It was a dirty word, meant to shame them for existing. It was meant to remind them that they weren’t really wanted, that they didn’t ever truly belong. “Half elven, half human,” he brushed aside the stray strands of hair that had fallen loose over his own ears, pointing to the semi-pointed tips. <br/><br/>“Dad from whichever race was doing the conquering at the time,” Vex finished his thought, helping pull her brother to his feet. Vax began to refasten his shirt now that it didn’t need to be open for the bandages. <br/><br/>“What?” Oh, really? I mean, no! No, my parents… no they loved each other. Still do! I think? Ill-Born? Really? Wow,” Keyleth seemed flustered, utterly caught off guard by this new knowledge. Vax looked down, trying to focus on the buttons on his shirt to hold back the tide of mixed emotions churning in his stomach. She might also be half-elven, but <em>she was not the same</em>. She didn’t understand what it meant to be only <em>partially</em> acceptable or only <em>partially</em> loveable. She may have looked the same, but they would never be the same if she didn’t understand the struggle they lived. <br/><br/>“Really,” he huffed, looking away from her, unable to meet her eyes. In the few minutes since this strange woman had appeared he’d worked his way through a dozen emotions and it was exhausting. His face shifted into a slow mask of indifference, putting back up the careful guards he usually wore, and silently wishing he hadn’t let the walls down in the first place. <br/><br/>“That’s terrible!” Keyleth looked genuinely distressed by the idea, “Why would they call you that?” There was a pause where neither twin would make eye contact nor respond to her. They didn’t know how to answer that. <em>How do you explain the varying degrees of hatred leveled against your person to someone who has seemingly never considered that as a possibility? How do you explain the dehumanization and the slow spiral into almost believing it? How do you explain the cruelty of the world to someone who seems to see everything as being inherently good?</em> It was easier to say nothing. <br/><br/>“Well, you seem nice to me anyway,” Keyleth smiled at the twins, earning a furtive glance from Vax. <em>She thought he was nice?</em> He’d gotten so used to thinking of himself in all negative terms that it was disconcerting to hear someone say he was nice. This stranger didn’t know him, but she thought he was good. It was a passing comment, but the implication threw Vax off balance, halting his process of closing her out again. <br/><br/>As Vax came back out of his self-induced stupor, he and Vex watched as the strange, squirrel girl took a sip of the swamp water and began to puzzle through her own investigation aloud. Vax cocked his head to the side, both nervous for her safety, confused by her process, and fascinated watching her work. He could see the gears turning in Vex’s head- Keyleth seemed to be working on the same sort of issue they were, but for a different client. They were running out of time to figure out what was happening here. <br/><br/>“We have business back in town,” Vex grabbed her brother by the shoulder, starting to tug him away from his rapture, “Thank you for healing my brother… and the otherwise very weird experience. You should be careful alone.” Vex called over her shoulder, already pulling herself up onto slightly more stable ground. <br/><br/>“Oh, I’ll be alright! I’ll be quiet as a mouse! Or, as it happens, a squirrel,” Keyleth chuckled softly, smiling to herself.<br/><br/>“<em>Uh-huh</em>. Come, Brother,” Vex shook her head disdainfully, “Good Luck, Strange Person.”<br/><br/>“Okay! Well, it was nice meeting you!” Keyleth called after them. Vax looked back over his shoulder as Vex released his arm. Walking away felt strange this time. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why but he didn’t want to leave this woman alone in the swamp after she had just helped him. She smiled so brightly at them as they left, her hand waving eagerly as if they had been old friends all along. His footsteps began to slow as his attention was directed back at the squirrel girl. Tentatively, Vax raised his own hand, waving slightly over his shoulder. Her smile doubled at the slight gesture, giddy with reciprocation of the friendly motion. Vax felt a smile creep across his own face in spite of himself- just a faint twitch, lifting the corner of his lips. <em>She was nice</em>. <em>And she thought they were nice. </em>She clearly didn’t know them.<br/><br/><em>WHACK</em>. Vax flinched as Vex swatted him upside the back of the head, bringing his attention back to the path ahead of them. He ducked his head sheepishly, not knowing how to explain the confusing muddle of emotions. Vex raised an eyebrow teasingly at him before rolling her eyes and pressing ahead to check that they were going in the right direction. Vax let out a soft sigh he hadn’t intentionally been holding in. They had a job to do- he needed to focus. <em>Eyes up front, eyes on the prize</em>. This was especially important if they weren’t the only team working on trying to stop this curse. And yet somehow, he couldn’t get her smile out of his mind- that genuine conviction in the inherent goodness of the world. Vax still felt a ghostly warmth on his chest, comforting even though the healing magic had long since faded. She was clueless, but she had been honest and good. That was rare in this world. That was something worth fighting for. <br/><br/>“Keep up, Brother, or I’ll leave you to the shark-speakers next time,” Vex prodded. Vax smiled to himself and pressed forward to catch up. <br/><br/></p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A Waste of Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Twins meet Scanlan, Grog, and Tiberius in conflict with the Myriad.<br/>Content primarily from Vox Machina Origins, Volume One.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u"><strong>A Waste of Time</strong></span><br/>"...Am I more than you bargained for yet? I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear, 'Cause that's just who I am this week..." -"Sugar, We're Going Down", Fall Out Boy</p><hr/><p>Vax narrowed his eyes, peering out from the grates of the sewer where they had sought refuge. After the attempted hit on the twins, they Vex had agreed to let Vax take the lead. The alchemist they were after clearly had more powerful connections than they had initially assumed. Even still, Vex wasn’t about to let her brother lead them through the sewers without protest.<br/><br/>“This is because of the shark thing isn’t it,” Vex grumbled, wrinkling her nose as she tried to cover her face with her cloak.<br/><br/>“Stubby, I’m trying to keep watch. Could you shut up?” Vax muttered back, making note of the two sets of footsteps that seemed to pass back and forth for the third time in a row. The streets were being covered, and the rooftops weren’t safe either. But Vax had a strong suspicion that the sewer system they were currently in would connect under the Alchemist’s safe house and they would be able to sneak in that way. Or they would be able to sneak in if Vex stopped talking.<br/><br/>“It is! It’s because <em>you</em> almost got eaten by a shark! And you think it was <em>my</em> fault,” she continued to pout.<br/><br/>“Actually, I <em>did</em> get eaten by a shark, if you remember, and it was <em>your</em> fault,” Vax pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. They had been on each other’s nerves before the shark situation but now the increased danger of this particular job was making it ten times more difficult to keep cool. Siblings argued, he knew, but when your sibling is also your only friend and confidant the tension can escalate that much more quickly. They had needed this job, and part of him had been hoping it would get their mind off of their differences. The more challenging it became though, the more Vax felt like he was bandaging a wound that wasn’t clotting.<br/><br/>“<em>I knew it!</em> I should have let the shark eat you..” Vex sighed loudly. Vax made a mental note that he was going to intentionally stomp around next time she took him on a hunting trip. He didn’t need her to like or approve of his methods, but he did need her to not intentionally sabotage their current efforts. The sewers weren't an ideal way to travel, but it was certainly safer than getting ambushed again. Dropping back down from his vantage point, Vax motioned for his sister to follow as they began to move as silently as they could through the tunnels. The faint splashing of their footsteps sounded too loud to him in the dark, but he reasoned most people weren’t as paranoid about noise and anyone else in the sewers probably wouldn’t hear that soft disturbance.<br/><br/>“Which way do we go?” Vex hissed in the dark, poking him in the side as he glanced down a fork in the tunnel.<br/><br/>“Oh, suddenly I’m in charge?” Vax could hear the snark in his voice but couldn’t dull the edge. The more she pushed him, the more he felt the need to push back.<br/><br/>“Well, this is a city! This is your thing or whatever…” Vex shot daggers through her eyes, keeping close by his side where they were sure the path was mostly safe.<br/><br/>“Just so we’re clear on the division of labor around here.” Vax mumbled, continuing to check the floor and walls as they walked, just in case there were any surprise traps waiting for trespassers. Everything seemed kosher so far, but you could never be too certain.<br/><br/>“Vax, I love you. I just wanted you to know that before I killed you.” Vex muttered through clenched teeth. Vax was silently regretting not leaving his sister in the woods with Trinket. Maybe she would have been happier out there. At the very least, it would have been quieter.<br/><br/>“He was headed east, c’mon!” Vax motioned down the corresponding hallway, guiding their path as best as he could in the dim light. A little ways ahead he held up his hand, motioning at the two shaded figures further down the tunnel. Both twins nodded, their dispute on hold until the immediate threat was dealt with. Dagger and Arrow struck their targets simultaneously, finding the soft vulnerability of the guards’ necks with no resistance. Guards were a<em> good</em> sign- that meant they were going in the right direction. Guards were also a <em>bad</em> sign. That meant that whatever they were moving towards was more complicated than the simple investigation they had planned on. At the very least, it wasn’t such a boring gig anymore.<br/><br/>The twins pressed forward, winding their way silently through the tunnels and avoiding another small patrol before Vax pointed towards a small alcove tucked out of view. The reinforced door inset in the space seemed to be about the right positioning for where the Alchemist’s lab would have been. <em>This had to be it.</em> Vax set about undoing the lock as Vex kept watch, her head swiveling back and forth on high alert to every noise as he deftly tipped the tumblers to undo the lock. Ever so slightly, Vax cracked the door open to slip past and into the shadows. His eyes darted across the room, taking in the bookshelves and the work bench with precariously perched glass instruments. All of that, however, was secondary to the two figures working their way through the room and picking it apart.<br/><br/>One figure was a towering mass of grey muscle and hide armor, seemingly picking through books without any real order or understanding. He must have been at least a head and a half taller than Vax, with muscles like a professional fighter. The other figure was much smaller, perhaps coming up to knee height of the goliath. The gnome was picking through the equipment somewhat more carefully, but his demeanor carried the same air of general disregard, as if this was nothing more than an amusing detour. Vax watched, eyes widening as the gnome hauled himself up to a large, red leather bound tome on the work bench. After flipping through a few pages, the gnome seemed to have determined that this item was their primary target, and clutched it to himself, heading to leave. Vex glanced over, meeting Vax’s eyes in the dark. <em>They needed to see what was in that book. Why was it interesting enough to take?</em> Vax nodded once, and pushed off with his back leg to spring up to the departing figures.<br/><br/>“We need that book, gnome!” Vax demanded, landing nearly directly next to the gnome as he drew one of his blades. The smaller man spun around, still clutching the red tome to his purple embroidered vest as his eyes widened in surprise. Vax lashed out immediately, not wanting to give him a chance to respond. The blade slashed through the side of his vest, just catching along his ribs as the gnome dove to the side.<br/><br/>“<em>Motherfucker</em>! Um, Grog?” the gnome yelped, pressing one hand against his side now to the thin line of red. He blinked once before setting his jaw, seemingly less phased by the wound than Vax would have expected. The dagger flipped in Vax’s hand as he leaned forward, slashing again. The gnome dodged back a step, just out of range for close combat. Vex emerged from the shadows behind her brother, bow drawn and aimed at the larger companion.<br/><br/>The goliath dropped the book he was holding, eyes burning with a sudden intensity as he barreled forward towards Vax. “You hurt my friend!” he roared, slamming down with a two handed axe. Vax dodged to the side, missing the brunt of the blow that shattered and scattered a cluster of stonework from the floor. He could feel a slight sting along his leg, knowing he’d been clipped by the edge of the blade. But at least he hadn’t taken the full hit. Vax dropped to one knee, trying to regain his balance.<br/><br/>“Okay, you’re on it! Good!” the gnome shouted back, scurrying towards the door with the book still clutched in one hand.<br/><br/>“You hurt my brother!” Vex stepped forward, bow drawn point blank at the goliath, ready for a kill shot. Her eyes burned with protective fury as she guarded her brother, echoing the goliath's phrasing. Vax stood slowly, feeling around his belt for another dagger. One finger hooked under the hilt, lifting it ever so slightly.<br/><br/>“That’s right,” The gnome pivoted around to look at the twins as he neared the door. They could see a strange bluish energy beginning to crackle between his fingertips as the book fell out of his grasp to the floor. “…you’ve been thunderstruck!” The twins glanced at each other, simultaneously diving to the sides as an arc of sparkling lightning jumped from the gnome’s hands, striking into the space where they had been. Vax poked his head up from behind the bookshelf he’d used as cover, checking across the way to where his sister looked dazed, but still fine. With a nod, both were up and moving, gliding across the floor to launch into the next round of attacks. Vax leapt off the edge of a stool, using it to propel himself up and onto the goliath’s shoulders to sink two daggers into the meat of his muscle. The half-giant howled in pain, trying to swat him off but Vax ducked out of the way.  <br/><br/>“Hey, uh...look…” the gnome’s tone had changed entirely to a note of pure confusion and concern. Vex turned to look where he was pointing- a mirror on the other side of the room that took up about a quarter of the wall. Her face slackened with equal confusion as a set of black cloaked figures slowly emerged from the mirror.  Both sides stood in silence for a moment, sizing each other up. Vax looked back and forth between the gnome and goliath and the sudden new arrivals. Their dress looked identical to the guards they had killed in the tunnels and the assassins they had fended off earlier in the day. The men from the mirror suddenly seemed like a much larger threat, all things considered.<br/><br/>The gnome cocked his head to the side, pointing at the new arrivals, “ Didn’t we kill you guys?” He looked back at the goliath for confirmation and was met with an uncertain shrug. The gnome turned to Vex, shaking his head in disbelief, “It’s alright. We already fought these guys. They’re pushovers!” he declared as an arrow promptly embedded itself in his chest. The gnome looked down in surprise at the fletching, groaning softly. “…owww”<br/><br/>“Scanlan? We’re outnumbered this time Scanlan? I think?” Grog piped up, pointing at each of the cloaked men, seemingly counting, or trying to count. The gnome shrugged. Looking back wand forth between the twins and the cloaked men, both the gnome and the goliath backed up two steps, forming a single unified line with the twins. Vex raised an eyebrow at the implied tentative alliance, but she said nothing.<br/><br/>“Listen, I’m… we’re not done! I’ll have some very cutting words for you when this is all over. You wait and see!” Scanlan muttered at the twins. He wouldn’t make eye contact, but there was an understanding that this alliance was temporary and out of convenience rather than any sort of completion of their dispute. <em>The enemy of my enemy</em>, Vax mused, looking over the other side. There were quite a lot of them, but he could be faster. Vax nodded down towards Scanlan, not fully trusting the gnome to not attack him, but realizing the guards were the bigger immediate threat. Nothing had gone right with this job so far- <em>this might as well happen</em>. He didn’t want to be allied with these strangers, but he wasn’t in a position to refuse the help either.<br/><br/>“If you’re still alive bard. Why don’t you go sing a song or something?” he scoffed, feeling his frustrations clouding his judgement. He needed to get back a little to assess the situation, but there was nowhere to go except into the fray.<br/><br/>“Hey, why don’t you go… be a stinky person who smells like a butt. Ugh.” Scanlan yelled after Vax as he launched forward. Vax barely registered the complaint as he rolled into a dive, ducking under the first sword slash and bouncing up from behind. Vex pivoted around the side, lining arrows into their enemies to keep them off of Vax as he spun through their ranks. The goliath charged through three of the figures, knocking them to the sides as he swung the axe wildly. It was challenging enough trying to not get stabbed, but Vax now had to keep an eye out for the goliath’s attacks as well, just in case any swung wide. At least he could mostly count on his sister to aim well enough to avoid killing him. A moment passed where it was just Vax and the goliath spinning back to back and he realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Vex wasn’t firing. His head snapped around, trying to lock onto his sister’s location. <em>No, she was alive, and still up.</em> The gnome handed her another quiver as he pulled it off of one of the bodies Grog had cut through earlier. <em>She had just run out of arrows.</em> They were outnumbered, but together they seemed to be staying mostly ahead of the threat of imminent doom. As the spun back around, rotating blades and arrows, Vax found himself back to back with the gnome again. They narrowed their eyes at one another, nodding tersely.<br/><br/>“I’ve decided to put off dealing with you until after we finish dying.” Vax stated, ducking under another blow. It was useful to have the extra hands against this many guards. The tide was turning in their favor, but it wasn’t over yet and Vax had learned not to get too excited too early. It usually ended poorly.<br/><br/>“I’m not one of the bad guys, asshole,” Scanlan muttered as he dove behind Vax for cover. Vax raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but didn’t say anything to refute the statement.  “…Actually that’s not entirely true if you count… ah fuck it.” Scanlan leaned over Vax’s shoulder, firing a spell at the guard who had just tried to take him out with a short sword. Vax tucked his head into his shoulder as the arcane energy blasted past his ear, leaving a continuous ringing sound. He pushed forward, nearly knocking the gnome over as he brought his blades up to counter the next attack. Vax could feel a sharp slash across his shoulder, but he didn’t have time to deal with it in that moment.<br/><br/>Time seemed to slow down as he pivoted, slashing and dodging as fast as he could. It was a blur of movement, until it wasn’t. Grog slammed his blade down again into the final twitching body as Vax found himself panting on the floor. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was covered in his own blood or in the blood of the guard whose throat he’d just slit, but there was significantly too much crimson on his sleeves for comfort. Vex looked down at her brother, also out of breath. They sat there for a moment, looking about at the mess they’d made. So much for a simple reconnaissance mission.<br/><br/>The gnome dusted his hands off and began to work his way around the room, checking the pockets of the guards and tossing random trinkets to Grog. As he got close to the twins, Scanlan squinted hard at Vax before his face transitioned into a reluctant grimace, as if acknowledging something he didn’t want to deal with. Vax shifted uncomfortably, trying to scramble back up to his feet to avoid the gnome’s gaze. As he pressed up he could feel that sharp pain in his shoulder again. The adrenaline high was beginning to fade, allowing pain to take effect. Scanlan nodded as Vax breathed in sharply, cradling the injury. Vax opened his mouth to protest as the gnome rubbed his hands together, but it was too late to argue as the hands slapped onto his shoulder. Vax recoiled, wincing at the sudden pain, but it was quickly replaced with a dull, warm sensation as Scanlan muttered something under his breath. A similar green energy seemed to pour out of his fingertips as when the druid in the swamp had healed him. Vax bit his lip nearly hard enough to draw blood. This was two strangers in two days he’d allowed to heal him. That was far too much trust to be allowed to strangers for things to not go horribly awry.<br/><br/>“I’m pretty confused right now…” Vax mumbled, feeling a wave of exhaustion washing over him as he sat on the floor. Scanlan patted him on his newly healed shoulder, seeming to acknowledge the unspoken awkwardness between them. They had tried to kill each other moments earlier, and now he had offered healing freely, and without hesitation. Vax looked down in embarrassment. He didn’t know how to respond at this point, but he was glad that the gnome wasn’t asking for a thank you. Acknowledging the healing out loud would have been an admission that he had accepted help. It would be an admission that he owed the gnome something. It would also be an admission that the gnome had done something selfless. At least this way they could both pretend it hadn’t happened and keep their pride.<br/><br/>Vex raised her hand suddenly, perking up from looting the bodies as footsteps began heading down the hallway. All four figures turned towards the metal reinforced door on the opposite end of the room from where the twins had entered. Vax gripped his daggers white-knuckle hard, anticipating another wave of guards. At least the healing would keep him going for a little while but he wasn’t sure how much more they could fight. He glanced over at Vex, trying to gauge her reaction. She was ignoring him, eyes locked on the door as it swung open.<br/><br/>“Well there’s a lot of smells down here, okay? It’s easy to lose… someone,” the druid from the swamp stepped into the room, accompanied by a large red scaled dragonborn man with a long blue robe. She looked around at the mess of bodies and the four strangers still standing with wide eyed confusion. Vax could feel something short-circuit in his brain, trying to wrap itself around the fact that she had just showed up <em>again</em> in another unlikely situation.<br/><br/>“The Druid?” Twins both uttered, mystified by the obvious observation.<br/><br/>“The Sorcerer?” Scan and Grog both piped up, sounding far less confused as much as relieved and excited.<br/><br/>“Oh! It’s the twins! Wow I’m really glad you guys are still alive!” Keyleth beamed as recognition dawned across her face. The warm smile spread again as she waved eagerly at them. Vax almost felt the instinct to wave back again, but swallowed it down. As she stepped forward, a familiar soft, sliding noise caught their attention from the side of the room with the mirror as another set of figures stepped out of the mirror. Vax felt his momentary hopefulness sink as another set of guards emerged, flanking a harsh looking woman in emerald armor. Her blond hair stood out among the sea of dark cloaks, but her smile was the coldest of them all. Vax flipped the blade in his hand, silently debating between running or fighting again as he looked to see what Vex was doing.<br/><br/>“I say!” the dragonborn exclaimed as a dagger swished past his head. Vax ducked instinctively even though it was a few feet away. Simply hearing the swoosh of metal through the air was enough to set him on edge. Vax watched with horrified fascination as the sorcerer snarled at the figure who had initiated the attack. The smell of sulfur and ash filled his nose as the dragonborn opened his maw and flickering red flames burst forth. No one had quite expected the rapid release of fiery vengeance and the guards were caught unprepared as the flames licked up the sides of their cloaks, scattering a portion of the fighting contingency. Vax nodded as the sinking dread seemed to subside. <em>Maybe, with a little extra help, they would be okay.</em> Vax snapped his head back towards the gnome, feeling the instinct to explain as the gnome also pivoted around.<br/><br/>“It’s okay, they’re on our side!” they both shouted excitedly. Vax blinked in surprise at the sudden outburst. He wasn’t quite sure where the excitement had come from on his behalf, but he certainly hadn’t expected it to be reciprocated by the gnome.<br/><br/>“<em>Jinx!</em> Onetwothree no take-backsies! You owe me a drink!” Scanlan immediately shouted back, capitalizing on the momentary shock that seemed to have frozen Vax in place. As the gnome swiveled around, Vax could feel himself raising the dagger as if to stab the gnome in the back, but he stopped short. The gnome was infuriating, but there was something endearing about having that moment in the heat of conflict. Vex was always so serious when they were fighting- <em>everything had to be tactically spectacular in her book.</em> The gnome didn’t seem to have a plan, and he didn’t seem phased by the immediate danger threatening them. He seemed to almost be <em>enjoying</em> himself, as if this were all a fantastic game of sorts. Vax felt the corner of his lips twitching to a smile at the ridiculousness of it- a moment of levity despite everything. He shook his head, turning the dagger towards the figures from the mirror.<br/><br/>The figure in green armor smiled as the six of them formed a somewhat united front- a loose coalition against the immediate threat. <em>She didn’t seem phased by the fiery dragonborn, or the massive goliath.</em> That confidence sent a shiver down Vax’s spine. <em>No one should be confident going into a fight.</em> Overconfidence either meant that you made stupid mistakes or that you knew you were so far beyond the possibility of losing that it wasn’t even really a fight as much as a massacre. From the look on her face, Vax guessed she wasn’t about to make stupid mistakes.  He vaguely registered a shifting green light off to his left side, but Vax tried to keep his attention forward on the combatants. There was no time for distractions.<br/><br/>Without any real direction, the team surged forward, each member fighting as an individual, barely skirting around the others. They weren’t coordinated enough to attempt any sort of joint efforts, other than the twins who danced around each other trying to keep the attackers at bay. It was a whirl of limbs and armor and blades, and Vax could have sworn that he’d seen a tiger out of the corner of his eye. They might have had a chance at this, until it all went wrong. With one hand, the woman reached out, muttering some arcane enchantment and suddenly the goliath was out of commission, trapped in a bubble, suspended in the air. Grog floated upwards, his expression falling from fury into pure bewilderment as his feet continued to float above his head. In the next instant Vax watched the woman in green raise a hand towards the ceiling, and suddenly the lights were snuffed.<br/><br/>Vax whirled around trying to see where everyone else was- the dark wasn’t usually a problem for him, but this was like being blinded. The darkness seemed so complete that he couldn’t make out the other figures in the room. He felt his breathing begin to race as he slashed out wildly, hoping to hit something, anything. The blade swirled through the air, catching nothing. As he leaned back onto his off foot though something caught him. Vax screamed out as a blade sunk into his side, feeling the metal slice through muscle and scrape across bone. His head swam as the pain turned to a tingling numbness, beginning at his fingertips and spreading up his arms. Vax clutched at his side, his fingers slick with blood as he grasped at the hemorrhaging wound. Another streak of metal slashed across his back and Vax could feel bile rising in the back of his throat as he lurched forward, stumbling onto the ground. His vision was already dark, but fuzzy points of light seemed to be dancing around the edges of his vision as Vax felt himself slipping out of consciousness.<br/><br/>“I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die here in the dark with grog and a bunch of assholes,” Vax could vaguely hear Scanland lamenting into the darkness. He sounded a million miles away. <em>Where was Vex?</em> Vax could feel his breathing slowing as he lay against the cold stone floor and faded into nothing.<br/><br/>“Hey asshole, you’re alive.” Vax breathed in sharply as the gnome pressed another healing spell onto the deep gash in his ribs. He coughed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment as he tried to catch his breath. Despite all that, he hadn’t died. His head was swimming but the warm dullness of the healing spell soothed some of the pain at least. He ran a hand over his side, poking at the new hole in his armor and the tender flesh of the newly formed scar tissue. Vax wasn’t sure he would ever fully understand magic, but he had to admit it was nice to have a healer on hand. Slowly he pushed himself up to assess the situation and the damage. The floor was littered with bodies, and their team seemed to have taken plenty of hits as well. Vax paused. <em>Were they a team?</em> No, they were a bunch of strangers that had dealt with a common issue. That was all. The druid and the sorcerer seemed to be worse for wear, but at least Vex looked alright. The goliath was still in a bubble, Vax noted, but there was no sign of the woman in green who seemed to be commanding the guards. The mirror, however, was shattered into a thousand shards.<br/><br/>“You let her escape,” Vax deadpanned. The words hung in the air for a moment, less as an observation and more an accusation. He was glad to not be dead, but now he was alive in a world where that woman continued to be a threat.<br/><br/>“<em>I</em> let… ohhh when I tell this story I’m going to make you look like such a cockbag.” Scanlan wrung his hands together, scowling at Vax. Vax maintained his stony frown, not willing to budge on the issue. Part of him felt the urge to acknowledge that this was the <em>second time</em> that the gnome had healed him, but that would have detracted from the point. Vax set his jaw stubbornly. They weren’t friends. They weren’t a team.<em> They were strangers.  </em>If the gnome wanted to waste spells to heal him that was his business, but Vax wasn’t about to accept that he owed the gnome anything now. The issue remained that this woman was out there. And while he hadn’t been able to stop her, they hadn’t either, and Vax couldn’t be sure if they hadn’t been able to or if they’d stopped trying. Scanlan wandered away tending to the druid to avoid looking at Vax. It was probably for the best. Vax straightened himself out, collecting his daggers.<br/><br/>“Oh, Hi! Thank you! Very Nice of you!” Keyleth smiled up at Scanlan as the healing spell kicked into effect. Vax gritted his teeth. He wasn’t about to be guilt tripped into a thank you just because some goody-two-shoes druid said it. <em>The gnome was still on his shit-list.</em><br/><br/>“Hey tiger-lady, I’m <em>extremely</em> nice. Especially from the waist down.” Scanlan winked at the druid. Vax didn’t bother to hide the disgusted groan- it was all the confirmation he needed to know that the gnome was exactly the kind of scummy dirtbag he looked like. They were in the middle of something serious, and he was finding time to flirt. The thought momentarily crossed his mind that Vex would probably have flirted back if she thought it would help their cause. He looked back at his sister, gathering herself and catching her breath on the other side of the room. No, he shook his head, even Vex wouldn’t stoop that low.<br/><br/>The gnome made his way across the room to the bubble with the goliath as the oblivious druid rushed off to check on the fallen dragonborn.<br/><br/>“Grog, could you please unfuck yourself?” Vax was mildly surprised when the bubble promptly popped, depositing the goliath in a heap, but he’d long ago learned not to question the specifics of magic. Magic was useful, but it was a whole new level of bullshit to understand. Simple was good sometimes, like blades that he could understand intuitively. Magic was complicated, like dangerous women emerging from mirrors, and other issues that just made things worse. Vax made his way over towards his sister, reaching out a hand to check on her. Vex shrugged away, not meeting his eyes. He could see the hurt and anger on her face, but he couldn’t quite figure out why. Vax chewed the inside of his lip nervously.<br/><br/>“What happened to the alchemist?” the druid perked up, interrupting his thoughts. Vax looked around, taking in what was left of the laboratory after their scuffle. Around the dead bodies there were still shattered bits of alchemical equipment, and the books on the shelves contained titles relating to various forms of acids and bases.<br/><br/>“He was the bait. They used the alchemist as bait to lure us all in here.” Vax settled. It was a simple enough equation. They hadn’t been careful and they’d tipped off the alchemist earlier. When the hit had failed, they would have known there would be a follow up. The druid had told them she was looking into this issue unprompted. Based on how cautious the goliath and gnome were, they had probably boasted that they were solving this case. If each of them had tipped off the guards, of course they were going to lay a trap. He should have known it was a trap when they only encountered two guards in the tunnels- <em>nothing was ever that easy. </em><br/><br/>“Okay, who is <em>us</em>? By which I mean, <em>who the fuck are you people?</em>” Scanlan pointed a finger accusingly around the room as he went over to retrieve the red leather tome. All six strangers circled around the center to discuss the situation, though the twins stayed a step out of range, both looking over their shoulders. Even with the mirror shattered, there was no guarantee they were safe here. Vax fidgeted nervously, not wanting to stay in one place too long.<br/><br/>“This is Vexama callit and… Vaxistan? Or something? They’re twins!” Keyleth pointed at the twins who shared a look of mutual disgust. It was bad enough when people called them the wrong name, but that didn’t even sound close to being right. Vex rolled her eyes, not bothering to hide the gesture.<br/><br/>“Wonderful, who are you?” Scanlan pivoted back to the druid, his smile dripping with fake politeness.<br/><br/>“Oh, she’s with me. We’re with the four from Foramere. Except there’s five of us for some reason…” the dragonborn trailed off, seeming to get tripped up by his introduction. Vax looked over at his sister, silently wondering how this group had managed to all end up at this point. He knew he and his sister were competent, but the rest of them were a mess.<br/><br/>“I’m Grog.” The goliath pointed at himself and then jammed a finger at the gnome, “Dis is Scanlan. We’re greedy.” Grog smiled brightly, seeming pleased with himself for the introduction.<br/><br/>“Self-enlightened interest,” Scanlan interjected, winking at Vex. She ignored him, turning her nose up. Vax barely stifled a snort.<br/><br/>“Who do you people work for?” Vax narrowed his eyes, scanning the faces of all the others. He knew they were working this as a good-will case mostly, but he highly doubted the others were looking into this issue of curses or poison for altruistic purposes. The goliath and gnome were in it for the gold, by their own admission of greed. And the druid and the sorcerer were a part of a larger group. There was no way that they weren’t getting paid for this. While they had worked together as a temporary alliance, the threat had seemingly passed for the time being. They didn’t need to pretend to be okay with one another anymore. Now they needed to get back to business.<br/><br/>“I wondered that myself, frankly,” The dragonborn stepped forward, extending a long clawed hand towards the twins. They looked back and forth between each other and the hand, not making any moves to reciprocate even as he waved the hand impatiently. “Introductions first! Hello, my name is Tiberius Stormwind, from Draconia.”  Vax nodded curtly at Tiberius, still making no motion to shake his hand. Tiberius didn’t seem deterred, leaving the clawed hand extended still.<br/><br/>“That’s just a thing he does... Like to everyone. You can probably shake it. It won’t go off,” Scanlan shrugged, beginning to tuck the tome into his bag. Vax’s eyes flicked over to the tome, the conversation coming full circle. They had delayed the issue, but the twins still needed the tome. Or at least, needed to know what was in it. Maybe it would tell them what was going on. Information was their most valuable asset right now.<br/><br/>“Enough. We need the book, gnome,” Vax turned his full attention towards Scanlan, stepping up to be toe to toe with the gnome. Scanlan narrowed his eyes, looking up at Vax. A small smile crept across Scanlan's face as he cocked his head to the side.<br/><br/>“Or what?” Scanlan crossed his arms defiantly, “What are you gonna do? Stab me <em>again?”</em><br/><br/>Vax didn’t hesitate. He had already been considering it as an option, but as the gnome suggested it, Vax brought his blade down in perfect timing to punctuate the question.  <br/><br/>“…Oww… <em>you asshole!"</em> Scanlan yelped, not breaking eye contact with Vax. Vax pulled back the dagger from the gnome’s shoulder, shrugging innocently. <em>He should have seen it coming really.</em> The goliath burst into a full belly laugh, shaking and doubling over as Scanlan and Vax stared each other down.<br/><br/>“He did it! He poked you with his pokey stick!” Grog chortled, dabbing at a tear in the corner of his eye. The whole room seemed to shake with goliath laughter. Keyleth looked back and forth, somewhere between thoroughly disturbed and concerned, and almost as if she too was going to break into nervous laughter. Vax kept his eyes locked on the gnome in a battle of wills.<br/><br/>“”Grog would you <em>please</em>… who’s side are you on?” Scanlan muttered over his shoulder, “Besides, you know it’s a fucking knife.”<br/><br/>“I know, but pokey stick sounds way better,” The goliath clutched at his sides, trying to reel in the laughter, “ But right! Um, hey, don’t do that again. Unless you really want to…” Grog finally stopped laughing, but the act of transitioning between laughter and intimidation seemed to freeze his face into a mask of confusion and disorientation. Vex stepped forward next to her brother, a hand on the bow as her defensive instincts kicked in.<br/><br/>“Listen, stop, <em>hang on</em>. Between us, we know where they are. We know how they’re poisoning the city. We each found her... Whoever she is… once. <em>Together</em> we can…” Keyleth stepped forward, seeing how quickly the situation was devolving. She raised her hands in a feeble peace attempt, trying to get everyone’s attention.<br/><br/>“Together we can all get killed! Which we almost just did! Which we would have done if we hadn’t gotten lucky!” Scanlan finally broke from the staring match, scowling with frustration and a hint of wounded pride. Vax felt his lip twitch up into a snarl. The gnome wasn’t going to budge on the book, and they weren’t going to get the book without going through both the gnome and the goliath. He glanced at Vex who shook her head slightly. <em>This wasn’t worth the fight. They would have to find another way.</em><br/><br/>“This is a waste of time,” Vax glowered as he pivoted away. The others had been temporarily useful, but they were completely unreasonable to work with. If they wanted to find this woman, they needed to move now, not block each other.  <br/><br/>“I completely agree,” Scanlan shouted back, arms crossed as if daring Vax to try something again. For a moment, Vax almost did- he felt his fingers reaching for a sheathed dagger even before he was fully aware of what he was doing. <em>It wasn’t worth it. This was a moment to walk away.</em><br/><br/>“We need your help. <em>We need everyone’s help.</em> I think having you two on our side would be good!” Keyleth tried again, still pursuing her initial tactic. She hadn’t seemed to grasp that no one was listening to her argument. They knew what she was going for, but there was no way in hell the twins were working with the gnome and the goliath. They were stubborn and foolish and insufferable… <em>everything we’ve been accused of being,</em> Vax tried to ignore the invasive thought. Vex was already moving back towards the sewer entrance they had first arrived through. The druid wanted them to do something good, to be something good. <em>She didn’t know who she was talking to</em>.<br/><br/>“It might be to <em>your</em> benefit,” Vax looked back coldly at the druid over his shoulder as he followed his sister.<br/><br/>“But it would not be <em>good</em>.” Vex finished the thought, her words dripping venom and disdain for everyone in the room. The twins stepped into the shadows, slipping back through the reinforced door and away from the mess and the strangers. Things were complicated enough, and they were only getting worse.</p><hr/><p>“This might be a bit more than we’re used to, Vex. We might need to look at this differently,” Vax sighed, running a hand over his face in exasperation. They had made it back to the inn without incident, but the day had been an absolute train-wreck. Vex refused to talk most of the way back, and while Vax would have been glad for the quiet normally, now it was an icy silence. She was visibly upset, but she was blocking him out. He wasn’t sure if this was still the same issue from before Stillben, if this was the issue of this particular contract, or if this was some new issue he’d managed to raise in the mess of the alchemist’s lab, but whatever it was, he knew it wasn’t going to end well. Every time he tried to bring up the subject, Vex had paced ahead, avoiding it. They needed to have a plan of action to move forward though, and he needed her input. “We just need help.” He tried again as they entered the inn.<br/><br/>“Hah, like who? <em>Those idiots</em> who just lost?” Vex turned on her heel to face him, “Let’s face it, brother, anyone foolish enough to help us <em>won’t stand a chance</em> against whoever <em>she</em> is.” Vax frowned, trying to read her expression as she glared at him. He hadn’t fully been expecting her to respond at all, but definitely not with so much contempt. Her chin jutted out ever so slightly, the way it did when she was being bull-headed and blocking him out.<br/><br/>“<em>We’re a team</em>. We took a job. Why are you fighting me on this?” Vax was torn between escalating with his own frustrations and letting the exhaustion wash him into an admission of defeat. Something in him clicked, a mirror of stubbornness that wouldn’t let him concede on this point. Vex looked away, muttering something under her breath before staring him down. They stood in silence in the front hallway of the inn for a moment, competing for dominance in a furious staring contest where neither was willing to budge. For the second time in the hour, Vax found himself trying to win an argument through sheer force of will- <em>an immovable object versus an unstoppable force</em>.<br/><br/>“Alright, I’ll say it.” Vex finally broke the silence without breaking eye contact, “<em>I’m afraid</em>.”<br/><br/>Vax felt his wall drop. She never admitted fear- at least not willingly, and certainly not in the middle of the hallway in an unknown inn. Whatever was going on here was more than he’d realized. <em>Was this because he’d almost died again?</em><br/><br/>“I’m afraid the only reason you’re doing this is because you think you can count on me <em>no matter what</em>. And you’ll push this anywhere because you think that <em>no matter what</em>, we’re in this together.” Vex grimaced as she looked away again. Her words sounded less angry than they did hurt, as though she was exposing a raw nerve.<br/><br/>“Yes, <em>we are</em>,” Vax’s brow furrowed.<br/><br/>“Right, so it’s up to me. To leave.” Vex looked back up, her expression challenging him. He felt like someone had sucker-punched him in the gut, the air not quite making it all the way into his lungs. There was one thing they could count on- <em>that they would always be together</em>. But she was suggesting walking away. She was calling his bluff- she knew if she walked, he would follow. That was just how they worked. <em>She was done with this job. She had given up</em>. She wasn’t interested in following through anymore. And either he could give up with her, or he would be alone. <em>He’d never been alone. He didn’t know how to do this alone. </em><br/><br/>“Vex!” He called out as she began to turn away, “I just… I don’t want to fail.” The admission felt flimsy and too fragile to hold her in place, but it was the only truth he could think to tell her. He had promised that father they would stop this curse. He had given his word to a man who needed their help. And for all the terrible things he did on a regular basis, he <em>needed</em> to do some good like this- to help people who had nothing left to hope for. Maybe he wasn’t always a good man- and certainly he could be a little shit- but this was his simple way of trying. He was terrified that if he gave up and walked away from this, it would set a precedent for the future that when the going got tough they would walk away. Walking away was meant to be a point of taking back control of a situation but walking away here felt like admitting defeat and running away. M<em>aybe if they got help they could make this work.</em> He needed to make this work.<br/><br/>“We’re going to have to get used to failure, brother.” Vex sighed, barely looking over her shoulder. Her hand was already on the doorknob. Vax could feel the bubble of panic swelling in his chest. <em>She was going to leave him.</em> Maybe all of their arguing had been too much. Maybe it was this particular job. Maybe it was spending their entire lives together. Maybe it was any number of things, but it was clearly too much. She was ready to keep moving, <em>with or without him</em>. His head was throbbing with the sudden surge of emotion, narrowing his vision to Vex’s hand on the doorknob. <em>She was leaving</em>. He could see his reflection in the mirror out of the corner of his eye and realized how desperate he looked but it didn’t matter. <em>She was leaving. </em><br/><br/>As Vax opened his mouth, he wasn’t sure what would come out- whether it would be a desperate plea to continue or if he would give in and ask her forgiveness as they fled. He never got the chance to decide one way or the other though as a hand clamped over his mouth from behind. He could see Vex turn around, her eyes wide with shock and alarm as he was pulled back and into the mirror.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Just the Six of Us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong> <span class="u">Just the Six of Us<br/><br/></span></strong>"...Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things, Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams, And you know we're on each other's team..." -"Team", Lorde</p><hr/><p>“There may be a place for you… in our new organization,” the woman in the emerald armor scanned him up and down judgment and curiosity playing across her cruel smile. Vax narrowed his eyes, determined not to let her know how uncomfortable she made him, viewing him like a newly acquired prized livestock animal. It didn’t help that they’d stripped him of his equipment before throwing him in this cell. It was a moderately sized cage somewhere in the hull of a ship, he’d gathered from the slight swaying motion every room seemed to have. He wasn’t sure where he was, or where they were going but he had no intention of staying put for long. He glanced down at his linen shirt and breeches, wishing they hadn't discovered the hidden knife in his boot. It would make escape more complicated without his equipment, but not impossible.  <br/><br/>“Not much of a joiner, me,” Vax snarled back, suppressing the defensive rage. He’d been pressed into the Clasp once, he wasn’t about to be pushed into another gang. Vax vaguely recalled one of the other thugs calling the blonde woman Iselda when they had asked what to do with him.  The blonde woman smiled sickly sweet at him, a reminder of the power imbalance through the bars of the cage.<br/><br/>“Well, you can talk it over with those other insects when they arrive,” Iselda trailed a hand across the bars, seeming content with herself for the moment. Vax frowned. <em>Those other insects</em>. Did she mean the other strangers they’d met in the laboratory? They weren’t going to come for him. They didn’t even know that he was missing. Even Vex had left. <em>No one would be coming for him</em>.<br/><br/>“Good luck,” he scoffed, “The only reason we didn’t kill each other is that you interrupted us.” He didn’t know the strangers but there was no way the gnome or the goliath would care if he went missing. The druid and the dragonborn had their own team. They weren’t friends or even allies. They were partners in momentary convenience. <em>It had been nice to have help in that fight though…</em><br/><br/>“Regardless, I’ll settle for your sister.” Iselda winked. Her smile betrayed the malice in her words- a barely veiled threat that sent a shiver down his spine. She said she was leaving, Vax tried to convince himself. As much as it pained him to think of Vex leaving, it was better than the alternative. At least if she left she would be safe.<br/><br/>“She won’t take the bait,” He spat back, “She said she was leaving town without me. She’s long gone by now.” A wave of nausea washed over him thinking about their fight. The last things they had said had been in anger, and there was a distinct chance that he wouldn’t make it out to make things right. He hated the idea of Vex on her own, but it was the best thing he could hope for in this moment. <em>Vex had left,</em> he tried to convince himself, <em>she was with Trinket.</em> For a moment, he actually convinced himself of his wishful thinking. She had never really seemed like she was going to follow through on leaving before- although they had bickered and threatened it before. He had never really taken the threat seriously though until her hand was on the doorknob. He couldn’t fathom what life would be like without her always there- even as much as they drove each other crazy. She said she was leaving though, and Vex was stubborn enough to do it. <em>He needed her to do it</em>. Vax felt his exterior calmness crack as he shrunk in on himself, feeling extraordinarily alone. <em>No one would come for him</em>. The feeling of isolation settled like a stone in the pit of his stomach. <em>He had to save himself.</em><br/><br/>“Oh, oh look at you,” Iselda leaned in, laughing patronizingly as she drew a finger slowly across his cheek. Vax pulled away, trying to retreat as far as he could into the cage to get out of her range.  “It’s so <em>adorable</em> that you believe that. You got in a little spat with your sister and now you’re desperately hoping she followed through with her threat… left you behind and saved herself.” Her eyes gleamed with malicious delight, “You see I think I’ll net <em>all </em>six of you. Perhaps not... You are, after all, a disorganized lot of talentless misfits more likely to kill each other than anyone else. But removing you from the equation is enough to scare the hell out of them. And at the very least, <em>she</em> will come for you. I know this. I know your sister will come here and find you, waste herself trying to save you… because I wouldn’t.”  <br/><br/>With a soft shake of her head, Iselda turned away from his confinement. Vax pulled his knees up to his chest, keeping an eye out on the rest of the space. He hated that woman and her condescension. He hated the idea of Vex leaving him, but he hated the idea of her coming to save him even more. He hated that he’d fallen into this situation and he hadn’t been more careful.  A guard walked past, making a slow perimeter check before disappearing back up and into the hold. He would get out of here and make this right. He would find Vex and warn her. And maybe he would even try to warn some of the other strangers.<br/><br/>Iselda seemed to think that the six of them were all a team. She was right- they were a disorganized lot of talentless misfits. Or at least the other people were. But maybe there was a grain of truth to her intuition that they had worked as a team. Vax was so used to only trusting Vex, but there had been an uneasy trust with the others as well- even if the trust was only to not kill each other until the bigger threat was dealt with. Two of those strangers had healed him without asking for anything in return. It wasn’t much, but it was more of a gesture of goodwill than either twin had seen in a long time. Admittedly he’d immediately stabbed one of the healers, but it had been warranted.<br/><br/>Vax buried his head into his knees, listening intently for more footsteps. He didn’t want to trust those strangers, but he’d meant what he said when he told Vex they needed help. Maybe those strangers weren’t ideal, but they might not be the worst people he could choose. If he could get out of here, he could get help and they could take down Iselda together. Maybe the druid had been right. Maybe they had a better chance together. But together always started with Vex. And now together started with escape.</p><hr/><p>Vax paddled frantically towards the docks, his head poking up from the small breaker waves as he tried to get his bearings. He hadn’t expected the ship to still be in port, but that made life so much easier. As he’d burst through the exploding hull wall, Vax could have sworn he heard Vex’s voice calling out to him. As his eyes came into focus with the saltwater streaming down his face, his vision locked onto Vex on the docks, waving at him and still calling out. There was a cluster of other figures around her on the docks, but she was his target. Vax dove under again, swimming as fast as he could manage to get to his sister. As he pulled himself up onto the wooden platform, Vex’s arms looped under his to help pull him upwards. The twins collapsed into a soaking heap on the docks as Vax gasped, trying to catch his breath. Vex wriggled loose, kneeling and brushing the wet hair out of his face. One eye was nearly swollen shut, and he could taste blood on his lips, but he’d made it out.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I… I didn’t mean it,” Vex’s words spilled out as an apology and a confession, “You’re the only thing that matters to me. I can’t lose… I can’t lose you too.” She bowed her head, bumping heads with her brother. Vax smiled softly, placing his hand on the back of her head to hold her in that moment as a silent understanding passed between them. No matter how much they might threaten or argue, they could never <em>really </em>leave one another. They were each other’s balance. And perhaps, in a strange way, they had needed this moment of panic and separation to see that.<br/><br/>Vax kept his head bowed even as Vex pulled away to stand. Kneeling on the docks, he was exposed and vulnerable, waiting for the next shoe to drop. Vex stood and began to gather herself, but no one moved. The others on the dock, he’d gathered, were the strangers Vex hadn’t wanted to enlist. She’d done it anyway though, to come find him. And for whatever reason, these strangers had come to help<em>. He needed their help</em>, Vax accepted the reality of the precarious situation. <em>He needed their help to end this</em>.<br/><br/>Vex straightened her cloak and extended a hand to her brother to help him to his feet. “Let’s go far from this place. They want to poison the city? They’re welcome to it.” Her words were cold but Vax could see the fear in her eyes. She wouldn’t admit it in front of these people, but after almost losing her brother, she wasn’t willing to take any more risks. In her calculations, this wasn’t worth it. Vax looked up at her, meeting her eyes but not taking her hand. She would sacrifice everyone in this town if it meant keeping Vax and herself safe, he knew. The world was cruel and Vex would accept whatever means necessary. <em>He couldn’t</em>. He couldn’t leave these people to suffer and die- not after what he’d seen in the ship. And if these strangers were truly willing to help and to put themselves on the line, then they needed to try. This was no longer a question of not <em>wanting</em> to fail that father who had contacted them initially. This was a question of <em>needing</em> to succeed, because willingly allowing that much senseless loss wasn’t an option. This was the right thing to do. This wasn’t about benefit or gold- <em>this was about doing good</em>.<br/><br/>“No,” Vax pulled himself up, squaring his shoulders against his sister in righteous indignation, “No. The druid… and the sorcerer were wrong. <em>It is a curse</em>. The poison is just a component. It’s going to kill everyone who ever drank, ever touched the water…” Vax felt a strange calmness wash over him as he looked around at the strangers before him. Either they were going to help or not. But he wasn’t going to walk away from this one. He wasn’t going to run.  “And I’m going to stop them. Alone if I have to.” Vax set his jaw stubbornly. Vex had called his bluff earlier, and now it was his turn. He already knew the answer but he needed her to say it. He needed confirmation that they were on the same page. He needed confirmation that even if she wanted to run, she wouldn’t leave him.<br/><br/>“No. Not alone. Never alone,” Vex sighed. There was a note of defeat to her tone, overshadowed by the hint of panic at his suggestion, “We go together, <em>always</em>.”  Vax smiled back at her, brushing a strand of wet hair out of his face. She might not believe in the idea of doing good for no reason, but she believed in him, and that was enough.<br/><br/>“We’ll go together!” Keyleth interjected. Vax turned his attention towards the druid, raising an eyebrow curiously. He’d been silently hoping that by forcing Vex’s hand, the others would join in. At the very least, the very excitable half-elf seemed to be on board.  “Us, Us- the six of us. I mean, otherwise what was the point of anything? Tiberius, say something.” She continued gesturing at the others. When no one immediately stepped forward she seemed flustered, shrinking into herself to fidget with the antlers on her circlet. Vex shot her brother a curious look as if surprised that the others might actually be willing to go along with his harebrained plan of saving the city.<br/><br/>“Well, of course I agree! We must band together and stop that woman. She’s a huge butthead,” Tiberius nodded emphatically. He seemed interested in the issue, but not quite as invested as Keyleth. Still, that was better than not being involved at all. They needed all the help they could get if they were going to try and fight Iselda and that golem… and whatever other horrors they’d hidden on that boat.<br/><br/>The gnome cracked his knuckles, grinning up at Vax. Vax tried to swallow his pride. The gnome wasn’t exactly the kind of person he thought he would get along with, but the bard had proven useful. And he had come to help, even after Vax had stabbed him. That had to count for something. Maybe there was more to the gnome than just lewd remarks.  <br/><br/>“Grog, you want to take on a whole thieves’ guild? Just the six of us?” Scanlan’s crooked smile seemed to revel in the proposed challenge. He might be crazy, Vax decided, but crazy could be useful.<br/><br/>“Not really…” the goliath rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. Vax’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Despite appearances the goliath had so far seemed somewhat timid when he wasn’t actively swinging an axe. It was a good reminder to not make hasty judgements of the people around him. Even still, the hesitancy made Vax a bit more nervous. They had four confirmed party members, and the gnome seemed to be implying he would join. But having the goliath would be a huge boon to their cause. If the goliath and the gnome backed out, they would be hard-pressed to make this work.<br/><br/>“Yes you do.” Scanlan elbowed Grog in the knee. The gesture seemed to reassure the goliath who nodded slowly, accepting the challenge. Scanlan beamed back at the rest of the group, seeming pleased with the current arrangement.<br/><br/>“Them I get, but you?” Vax found himself taken aback a bit by the gnome’s eagerness, “This isn’t a story, gnome. You don’t know how this ends. We could all die.” Vax had listened to so many bards in taverns and back in Syngorn who sang of the glory of heroes and the great thrill of the fight. Those songs always left out the searing pain when the fight went wrong, or the anxiety of almost dying. The songs never talked about what would happen if you failed. If this bard was expecting this to be a story-book moment, Vax was afraid they would walk in and be caught unawares. They weren’t heroes. They weren’t going to fight a glorious battle. They were a bunch of uncoordinated misfits trying to stop worse things from happening. The odds of dying were pretty damn good.<br/><br/>“First of all, yes, it <em>is</em> a story,” Scanlan scoffed, pointing a finger accusingly at Vax, “<em>Everything is a story</em>. Don’t ever say that again. Secondly, I know exactly how it ends. They’re trying to kill an entire city. We’re gonna stop ‘em.” A dark grin crossed over Scanlan’s face as he looked around at the group gathered. They weren’t quite a team, but they were going into this together. Making eye contact with each person individually, Scanlan nodded and pointed at the ship where Vax had escaped from. A still smoking hole in the hull made it easy to keep an eye on their target.<br/><br/>“We’re gonna get on that boat, and we’re gonna burn the fucking thing to the ground.” Scanlan said with such conviction that Vax truly believed they might have a chance at this. This time, it wasn’t just the twins. This time, they had help. They had allies. He wouldn’t go so far as to say they had friends, but looking around at the strangers who had gathered and were willing to put their lives on the line to try and save this town, Vax almost thought they could be in time. They were crazy. This whole situation was crazy. And they were going for it anyway. These were good people. <em>These were his kind of people</em>.</p><hr/><p>The whole thing was a mess, in the best possible way. Vax had resigned himself to loss and probably death until the goliath had reemerged in a final charge. He wasn’t even sure how it all happened, but they had done it. They had stopped Iselda. They had saved Stillben- even if no one else knew. As they gathered themselves together and healed up from the worst of the fight, there was an air of joviality. <em>They hadn’t died</em>. The goliath and the gnome were celebrating and even the druid and dragonborn were giddy. Vex was laughing along, and for a moment, Vax felt like they truly were a team. It was nice to share in the success with other people. It was nice to actually celebrate the success, rather than to take it for granted, count the money, and move on. It was nice to laugh at their brush with death. It was nice to be around these strange people.  Even if they had literally set the boat on fire, and had to squeeze out an escape. Sitting on the docks to catch their breath, surrounded by these strangers felt comfortable.<br/><br/>“You want to leave? Now’s the time, we can slip away…” Vax sighed, not truly wanting to go. He knew it was safer to leave them behind now that the job was done, but he was enjoying the moment. He didn’t want it to be over yet. He didn’t want to be alone yet again.<br/><br/> “Actually,” Vex wrung out her braid as she looked out over the others, “This is crazy, but do you know what I thought for a moment? When you were diluting the poison?” Vax chuckled, thinking back to when the gnome had suggested pissing on the arcane sigils. It was a ridiculous plan, and it had worked somewhat. The gnome was crass, but it had been kind of fun to take that moment for an unorthodox approach.<br/><br/>“This is what it would have been like at the school… if we’d been… you know, anyone else. <em>Normal kids</em>,” Vex elbowed her brother, seeing his dazed smile as drifted out of his musings. She seemed to be thinking the same thing- maybe these strangers weren’t so bad. Maybe it was time to stop the endless years of self-imposed isolation. Maybe they would stick around for a little while… just to see what would happen.<br/><br/>“Fuck Normal,” Vax laughed, nodding at the crazy collection of people they’d gathered. There was nothing normal about them, but there was something good. Trinket rumbled his assent before shaking violently, scattering wet fur and saltwater everywhere. The druid laughed giddily as Vex and the gnome complained about the sudden splash. Vax twined his fingers into the bear’s wet, somewhat sticky fur. Maybe together was better, with these strangers who could slowly earn his trust. As they gathered themselves up, the twins kept pace with the group for once, rather than staying at an arm’s length away<br/><br/>“Should we leave town?” Keyleth asked timidly, still squeezing water out of her hair.<br/><br/>“I dunno, I kind of like it here,” Scanlan danced ahead, all smiles and bravado after their success, “Lots of opportunities for a band of plucky adventurers!” He grinned back, gesturing at their group. Vex and Vax exchanged a quick glance. The gnome had decided they were a team now. Vax shrugged. It couldn’t hurt to try it out.<br/><br/>“I think we should find an expensive tavern,” Vex nodded back before stepping up to walk alongside Scanlan, “ And get completely shitfaced.”<br/><br/>The group paused, halting in their tracks with a combined look of absolute bewilderment. Vax laughed, continuing to walk as he shook his head. Vex cared a lot about value and money, but she had a soft spot for luxury and comfort. After a day like this, there was no way any of them could deny her if she wanted to indulge.<br/><br/>“<em>You?</em>” the druid finally managed to ask, her head cocked to the side like a confused puppy, earning a chuckle from everyone.<br/><br/>“What, did you think <em>I</em> was the serious one?” Vex winked back at the group over her shoulder. Vax stuck out his tongue at his sister at her implication. It wasn’t entirely wrong, but it wasn’t entirely right either. He was only serious some of the time. And if these people continued in the manner they had, maybe he wouldn’t have to be serious at all. It would be nice, he thought, to have someone else to play pranks with and to goof off with when Vex was in a bad mood. It would be nice to have friends.<br/><br/>“If you think I’m the serious one, We’ve got a lot to learn about each other.” Vex called back over her shoulder, continuing forward on her mission to find a suitable tavern for a night of revelry and celebration. Vax looked around at the others. He was still a little unsure about the whole situation- old habits didn’t die easily and isolation was still comforting. But he was excited to try something new.<br/><br/>The druid clutched her staff tightly, looking around at everyone else with a broad smile. “Let’s get started.”<br/><br/></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Grog is My Friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The team deals with Grog's encounter with necromancy. Pike and Percy join the roster.</p>
<p>(Note: I imagine Scanlan playing "Saga of Scottish Travelers for Lute" by Andrei Krylov during that scene)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong><span class="u">Grog is my Friend</span></strong><br/>"...Tell him true friends are hard to find, but in the wrong place at the right time, Lord knows I found mine..." - "Friends", Cleopatrick</p>
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<p><br/>“One Arrow. <em>Just One</em>.” Vex grumbled, holding her head in her hands as she glared down at the table. Vax’s lips quirked into a half smile at the suggestion. Keyleth and Tiberius had been jabbering on for nearly twenty minutes about some inane nonsense as the rest of the crew nursed their hangovers. Neither twin particularly enjoyed mornings, especially when compounded with the throbbing headache from the previous night’s celebration. Vax kept his hood pulled over his eyes as he lounged back in his chair, hoping no one would notice as he tried to go back to sleep. At the very least the hood helped with how bright the room was, although it did nothing to drown out how loud his friends were. <br/><br/>“No,” Vax muttered back to his sister, knowing that if no one intervened she might actually fire a warning shot. They had been staying in Stillben with the other members of their party for a good bit now- far longer than they had stayed in any one place in years. It was still somewhat of an adjustment period, getting used to living with other people and staying still, but Vax was still enjoying their company despite the early mornings. He would prefer that his sister not shoot their new companions. <br/><br/>“Why does the world hurt so much?” Scanlan groaned from where his head had sunk into the table, not even bothering to keep himself propped up anymore. Vax chuckled softly. The previous day had been rough, spent battling some sort of horrific stillborn deity threatening the region. With new wounds, still itching as they healed into scars, the group had set about drowning their aches in ale and other liquors. It was a strange trade off really- they were doing far more dangerous work now than they had ever imagined, but the pay off was getting better slowly too. And somehow, even more than the gold, the pay off was in sitting around with people he enjoyed and drinking to their successes. <br/><br/>Amid the continued chattering, Vax felt his sister shift beside him, drawing him out of the lazy haze he’d been drifting into. It was a familiar shift even without seeing the motion- the slight lean as she reached for the quiver.<br/><br/>“<em>No</em>…” Vax stated again as he reached out a hand to block her from accessing the quiver. He liked these people, even if they were a mess. <em>They were his mess now</em>. Vex would always be his first priority, with Trinket coming in close second. But these people had earned his trust through trial and error. They were his people now- <em>his friends</em>. And if anyone wanted to mess with his friends, they would have to deal with him.</p>
<p>The goliath was easy to befriend- he was loyal to his friends and generally good humored. And more so, Vax had discovered the goliath also shared a fondness for pranks- a fact Vex was immediately displeased with. The dragonborn was interesting at times, but his tone made it a little too easy for Vax to zone out; It was the same sort of scholarly syntax he’d gotten used to ignoring from teachers in Syngorn. But he seemed genuine enough for a nobleman. Vax still wasn’t sure he actually trusted the dragonborn for that reason alone. The bard had been a point of concern, from Vax’s perspective. But much to his own surprise, he enjoyed the banter and the lightness that the gnome contributed. It was a pleasant offset to much of the skulking Vax was used to associating with time spent in the city. Part of the fun of having such strange traveling companions was that it detracted the attention from himself so he could almost relax a little. <br/><br/>Of everyone, it was the druid Vax had the hardest time adjusting to as a new party member. Vex seemed to like her most of the time, although Vax wasn’t sure if it was just his sister enjoying talking to another girl instead of only her brother. The druid was honest and open and excited about everything, and that was more confusing than anything. The others, Vax could understand. They didn’t tell everything they knew, and they had their own motivations. <em>Well, perhaps everyone except the goliath</em>. Keyleth had mentioned her Aramante or some sort of traveling quest that she’d set out on, but that wasn’t entirely clear. She was Othlir but didn’t act like it and didn’t understand the burden it carried. Trying to understand her was like looking at a page and knowing you can technically read all the words, but knowing the meaning of nothing- frustrating and disconcerting. Vax had accepted that she was part of their group, and was friendly with her. But there was an element of confusion always- not fully knowing how to trust someone who didn’t seem to have secrets. Everyone had something they kept quietly to themselves. <em>Anyone who didn’t seem to have secrets had to be hiding something much worse.</em> <br/><br/>Vax raised his hood ever so slightly as the scent of hot tea and food wafted over, catching his attention. The bar maid set down six plates of eggs and breakfast meats and slices of warm bread before them, setting Scanlan to drooling. The server looked around, raising an eyebrow curiously as the group sluggishly lurched forward towards the food. <br/><br/>“Thought you lot could use this after last night. Where’s your large friend? Still abed?” She asked curiously. Vax had noted several of the barmaids seemed to have a flirtatious fascination with Grog during their time in Stilben. Even if that was the source of the curiosity though, it raised a good point. He hadn’t seen Grog when they had stumbled downstairs for breakfast. Truth be told, while Vax was coming to think of the others as a team, and even as friends, he hadn’t fully adopted the habit of checking in on anyone except Vex. Especially while hungover, he hadn’t considered checking in to see if everyone else was alright.</p>
<p>The five of them glanced around, sharing a guilty shrug. None of them had seen Grog since they’d gone to bed in a drunken stupor in the wee hours of the morning. It wasn’t such an odd thing if one of the twins slipped off, but they truly must have been deep in their cups to not notice if Grog had tried to make his exit. Vax looked down sheepishly, thinking back to Grog the evening before. The goliath had been acting strangely for sure, but they hadn’t given it too much thought at the time. Looking at the empty seat at their table was unsettling, but Scanlan seemed the most disturbed by his friend’s absence. <br/><br/>“We should go ask around town,” the gnome suggested, already shaking off his stupor to make his way towards the door. Vax looked down at the fresh food they’d just been served, and then over at the bard already preparing to set out on a search party. <br/><br/>“Maybe someone saw him?” Keyleth nodded, also rising to her feet. The twins shrugged before Vax began scooping a pile of bacon onto the bread to carry with him. Vex left a small pile of coins on the table next to their plate to cover the cost. <br/><br/>“He’s a goliath. He can’t be that hard to find,” Vex murmured. Her tone had shifted from annoyance to a note of concern. As much as Grog was big, they had all come to realize he needed other people around him, if for no other reason than to act as impulse control. The idea of Grog off on his own was worrisome both for his own safety and for whatever nonsense he might accidentally get himself into. Vax looked back longingly at the unfinished food on the table but followed his team into the street. He'd gathered up as much as he could reasonably take with him on the road, and Vex had done the same. It would be enough. If one of their own was missing, they had to find him. <em>No one was going to get left behind</em>.</p>
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<p><em>Westruun.</em> Vax swallowed nervously as they settled in for camp again. He and Vex had passed through Westruun briefly a few times in the past few years, but ever since the initial incident with the Clasp, Vax had purposely avoided this route as much as possible. But according to their investigation, Grog was heading in this direction. Vax found himself snuggling into Trinket for support, trying to shake off the growing sense of unease.<br/><br/> It was nice traveling with Scanlan and Keyleth- it was more fun camping as a group than it was with only Vex and Trinket. Scanlan plucked another string on his lute, still grumbling to himself as he tried to tune the loose wire. Keyleth and Vex were chattering on the other side of the campfire as the hazy purple blues of the evening sky rolled in. It was a nice moment- aside from the context of trying to track a missing friend. Trinket rumbled contentedly as Vax palmed off another strip of meat to the bear. <br/><br/>Vax had been worried about traveling with other companions, truth be told. Vex and he had a system- they could keep pace and keep unseen. They had learned how to live between the shadows of the trees when transitioning between cities. Some of their travels had been strictly for enjoyment, with long, moonlit hikes and stretching out in open fields to count the stars. But much of their travels had been an exercise in learning to stay hidden to stay safe. He didn’t know how Keyleth or Scanlan traveled. <em>Would they would slow them down and paint a larger target?</em> They were somewhat less conspicuous without the large red dragonborn traveling with them, but four horses and a bear did make for a somewhat obvious party regardless. <br/><br/>The first night Scanlan had sung around the fire both twins had been on high alert, certain that the noise would attract every danger known to mankind. But nothing disastrous had ended up happening that night, or the night after. Within a few days, Vax felt himself relaxing into a new type of traveling routine- one with less absolute fear of death. The twins still went about their nightly routines, trying to erase tracks and to camouflage themselves somewhat, but it was less frantic and more of a force of habit. Keyleth tried to help but Vex mostly relegated her to handling the horses. Vex preferred to keep total control over her projects. <br/><br/>Vax rubbed Trinket’s head absentmindedly as Scanlan re-situated himself to begin playing music properly. It was a gentle tune- not quite the same jaunty, upbeat notes the bard had been playing for the last few weeks. The music drifted around the flames, a low thrumming of strings seeming to reflect the bard’s own downcast glance. Scanlan had been singing less and less at night, seemingly getting more and more introverted the longer it took to find his friend. Tonight, he wasn’t singing at all, simply plucking the strings with great intention as if to keep his mind focused on anything except the issue at hand. Vax had decided that despite Scanlan’s initial boorishness, he liked the gnome and was fond of the easy repertoire they were developing. Grog was Scanlan's best friend though, and Vax silently wondered what it was like to have someone actively and consistently choose you as their favorite. His sister didn't count really- she was his best friend, but she was also contractually obligated to care about his well being as his twin. Part of Vax wanted to try and encourage the bard that they would find Grog, but he knew from experience that approaching the subject simply sent Scanlan into a mask of bravado and false confidence. If Scanlan didn’t want to talk about it, Vax didn’t want to be the one to push him. <br/><br/>His gaze shifted over to Keyleth who had moved away from the fire and was now patting her horse and brushing the mane slowly. Vax watched her curiously, still struggling to get a proper read on her. The twins had gone through dozens of horses over the last few years, trading them out and selling them or renting them as needed. These four were rented and clearly displayed signs of long years as pack animals. They were decent enough mounts and Vex had gotten a good price on the rental. And yet Keyleth seemed fascinated by each horse, taking the time to sit, talk to, and brush each horse every night. At first, he’d written the action off as Keyleth being a little crazy. But the horses seemed to really respond to whatever she was whispering to them- they were more responsive and followed behind Keyleth without question as they traveled. Realistically, Vax had realized, he could nap on his horse and it would follow Keyleth unerringly. Vex had often joked that the best judges of character were animals and small children, and animals clearly loved Keyleth. Vax had almost been a little jealous the first time that Trinket had snuggled up to the druid instead of him when they settled in for camp. But it had faded into laughter just as quickly when Trinket abandoned Keyleth to snuggle into Vex. <em>Maybe he was being too harsh on judging her. </em>Vax looked back into the flames, letting his mind wander.</p>
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<p>Vax bit his lip as they discussed the newest destination in their search for Grog. The trip to Westruun had been productive after meeting up with the Trickfoots, two pleasant gnomes who had adopted Grog in his younger years. It was still a funny concept- <em>a goliath being raised alongside gnomes</em>- but it was temporarily overshadowed by the anxiety of heading towards a place known as the cursed mountain. This no longer sounded like it was going to be a simple issue. Magic had to be at play. <br/><br/>“It’s okay to be worried about him,” a small voice stated from behind them. Vax pivoted to look at the door to the gnomish house, blinking in confusion at the figure who stepped out. “We’d better get going.” She said simply. <br/><br/>The gnome girl they’d met earlier shifted a small pack over her shoulder, tucking a strand of black hair back behind her ears. She’d outfitted herself with a thick set of armor and was absently fiddling with the straps on her shield. A golden emblem hung from a chain around her neck, Vax recognized as the same holy symbol she’d held onto while trying to scry on Grog earlier. Pike had been raised alongside their friend, and now seemed outfitted to join the search and rescue party. <br/><br/>“We’re a ‘we’ now?” Vex raised an eyebrow, scanning over Pike’s gear. The gnome’s jaw was set stubbornly, as if daring anyone to deny her. <br/><br/>“It’s going to be incredibly dangerous,” Scanlan piped up. He’d been fawning over Pike since they’d first made her acquaintance, and Vax honestly couldn’t tell if he was exaggerating for effect or if the bard was truly looking out for her safety. “You should really stay here. Leave this to us professionals.”<br/><br/>“I <em>know</em> it’s dangerous,” Pike rolled her eyes before stepping up toe to toe with the group, “That’s what the armor and weapons are for. Grog is my friend. And if he’s in trouble, I’m going to help. Besides, the Everlight can provide us guidance in finding him. Unless one of you happens to be a cleric?”<br/><br/>Vax let the corner of his lips twitch into a smile. He liked her spark and the audacity she had. For such a small person her presence commanded a quiet, defiant respect that seemed to outmatch Scanlan’s bluster. The old gnomish man smiled at her gently, as if knowing he couldn’t dissuade Pike from her new mission. He clutched at his own golden necklace, bearing the same symbol of Sarenrae as he nodded. Vax took the cue and nodded at Pike as well. <br/><br/>“I guess we’re a we now,” he smiled. For a moment, he wondered if spending so much time with other people was making him soft- he’d just willingly invited a complete stranger into their group. But something in her eyes left Vax with an absolute sense of certainty that it was the right move. They were going to need all the help they could get to find Grog, and Pike was exactly the type of focus they needed.</p>
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<p>“GROG DON’T,” the twins shouted in a panic, jumping to their feet as their large friend followed the nymph into the water, being led away by the hand. Vax felt the adrenaline surging in his veins as he bounded forward, trying to grab Grog before it was too late. He could feel the <em>woosh</em> of an arrow slicing past his face as Grog and the nymph passed into nothingness. The arrow slashed through the fading puff of arcane magic before colliding harmlessly into the lake. Vax stared at where their friend had been just a moment before. <br/><br/>“What the fuck was that supposed to do?” He shouted back at his sister as Trinket waded into the water, sniffing where Grog had been standing. Vax clamped his hands over his eyes, dragging them down his face in exaggerated exasperation. <br/><br/>“I don’t fucking know!” Vex yelled back, her tone also betraying the panic at the current situation, “I know he’s an idiot, but I didn’t think he’d be <em>stupid </em>enough to trust a fey creature!” Vex kicked at the water as her brother slumped to a seated position on the banks. They had come all this way out into the Frostweald to get the arcane components to try and save Grog, and he’d simply wandered off again. The  first time they’d spent weeks trying to find him before having to rescue him from a Lich deep in the heart of the Gatshadow Mountain, only to find their friend had been transformed into a sort of soul anchor for the necromancer’s power. They’d broken into a mage’s tower, and now they’d split up their team to try and find all of the arcane components in enough time to truly save Grog’s life.</p>
<p>Vax had never had people who would go to these lengths to help him, except his sister. They were going to every extreme for their friend, and he’d wandered off blindly with a pretty nymph. <em>Had he even been paying attention when they were discussing strategies? Or did he just simply not care that much?</em> Vax let out a frustrated groan. It was very difficult to save someone who didn’t seem fully invested in saving themselves. Then again, he couldn’t be sure if Grog wasn’t interested in being saved, or if he just didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. <br/><br/>“He’s probably being eaten alive on the other side,” Vax lamented. Scanlan and Pike would have their heads if they let anything bad happen to Grog. Truthfully, he wasn’t entirely sure how they had ended up on Grog baby-sitting duty. He knew they had chosen to go after the “Heart of a Nymph” because they had some prior experience with the Frostweald, and they were the ones with the fey knowledge. <em>Clearly those lessons on the Feywild were proving to be so useful… </em><br/><br/>“What do we do?” Vax sighed after a moment, “Do we wait for him here?” The unspoken question hung in the air. <em>How long do we wait to see if he survives?</em> There was no way of knowing what would happen to Grog in the Feywild. It was an entirely separate plane of existence, for gods sakes, full of dangerous, trickster entities that thrived off of chaos. Grog didn’t stand a chance. <br/><br/>“At least it’s warm here…” Vex trailed off, not wanting to acknowledge the odds that Grog was gone for good. They couldn’t go back to the others if they failed this. <em>How could they return with the news that they hadn’t gotten the heart, and they had lost Grog in the process?</em> All of the progress they’d made, the friendships they were developing… that would be forfeit. They had invested too much time already in trying to save their friend. They couldn’t give up now. Much to his surprise, Vax found that the idea of giving up hadn’t occurred to him as a realistic option. He wasn’t used to having friends and he wasn’t about to lose them now… <em>even if they were stupid</em>. It had never really occurred to Vax that having friends could sometimes be like having more siblings. He was so used to being the impulsive sibling usually getting into trouble that he wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation. He'd never been on the other end of waiting for the reckless behavior to end. Vax fidgeted nervously. <br/><br/>A sudden bright flash of light and energy caught their attention as the Twins jumped back a step. Emerging seemingly from the ether, Grog stepped forward with the Nymph clutching onto him with her arms loosely draped around his neck. Grog blushed brightly as he set the nymph back down to stand on her own. Taking his chin in her hand, the nymph pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before diving below the water and out of sight. Vex and Vax stood frozen on the bank of the lake, jaws hanging open in confusion and shock. Even Trinket cocked his head to the side, seeming to understand that this was abnormal. Grog smiled nervously before turning back to his friends. <br/><br/>Vax shook himself back to motion first, overcoming the bizarreness of the situation. He’d been certain that Grog was a goner, but here he stood, seemingly unphased and unharmed. The goliath held a small, pearlescent blue stone in his massive hands, but otherwise seemed just the same as he’d been before wandering between planes. Vax began patting his friend up and down, checking for wounds or arcane marks or anything else that would suggest he’d been damaged during his time with the nymph.  He breathed a deep sigh of relief, finding no new injuries beyond the scar from the lich encounter. <br/><br/>“Are you alright? What did she do to you?” Vex leaned onto Trinket for support, seemingly exhausted by the whole situation. Vax suppressed a chuckle at how much she looked like their mother some days. He would never tell her that- it would just make her sad again. But it was nice to see Vex give that exasperated look of concern to someone other than himself for once though. <br/><br/>“That,” Grog raised his chin indignantly, “is a very personal question. Also, I kinda don’t really remember it... But she gave me this,” he held out his hands to display the tiny stone, “A nymph heart! That’s what we needed to get, right?”</p>
<p>Grog grinned brightly as the twins exchanged a looked of bewilderment and burst into laughter. For all of the times they had prepared and tried to strategize, nothing ever seemed to go according to plan. But these moments of improvised, irrational behavior seemed to work out better than anyone could have ever expected. Vax had often joked that he survived on luck alone, but it seemed to be the truth when it came to their little team. Nothing had gone according to plan, but everything had gone right, and that had to be a stroke of good luck<em>. Pure, dumb luck.</em> Vax clapped the goliath on the shoulder, pulling him in for an impromptu hug. Grog leaned into the motion with a good deal of confusion. <br/><br/>“You crazy motherfucker,” Vax laughed, “Let’s go get you fixed up before you hurt yourself again.”</p>
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<p>Vax leaned against the desk in the Realmseer’s study, breathing heavily as he looked around at all of his companions. <em>Everyone was alive, if a little worse for wear</em>. Even Grog was doing alright, although he certainly had taken the most damage. Trying to contain a possessed goliath was more difficult than it sounded, especially when trying not to mortally wound him. The fading smoke of the arcane explosions wafted through the room, reeking of sulfur and sage. Vex was frowning over a few broken arrows as the gnomes rushed forward to swarm Grog as he shook his head in a daze. <em>It was over</em>. <em>They were all going to be okay. <br/></em><br/>“I guess I should thank you guys,” Grog rubbed the top of his bald head, feeling over where a bump was already beginning to swell up, “So, thanks!” <br/><br/>“<em>Very</em> eloquent,” a voice piped up from the corner. Vax turned his attention to the man in the blue waist coat with the strange glasses. He’d noted that the other team had brought in a stranger when they began working on the ritual, but everything had been too hurried to worry about it. He simply had to trust that the gnomes and the druid knew what they were doing when they brought in the stranger. But now, with a bit of breathing room, Vax could properly assess the situation. The stranger was tall, and seemingly human. He would have been handsome, Vax thought, if you could get past the shock of stark white hair that seemed to overtake his head. The glasses glinted in the candlelight, lending an eerie glare to the man’s face, despite his smile. <br/><br/>“Who exactly are you?” Vax found his curiosity piqued as the man stepped in closer to join the celebratory huddle. His clothes were frayed but looked well made with fine embroidery around the hem. Vax raised an eyebrow expectantly. The man was a bit aloof from the rest of the group, cleaning a strange mechanical contraption Vax had never encountered, before slipping it into his jacket again.<br/><br/>“Percival Frederickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rollo, the third,” the man inclined his head ever so slightly in Vax’s direction, maintaining a stiff shouldered posture. Vax instinctively felt his muscles tense. <em>That was a nobleman’s name and a nobleman’s introduction.</em> No normal person went around listing a dozen names- no one had the time or patience for that. The dragonborn had been noble, but seemed too flighty to truly be a concern. There had been murmurings that the druid was noble as well, but she didn’t bring it up and Vax didn’t want to know. But this man, he seemed to flaunt his lineage as if it would mean something. Vax nodded tersely, acknowledging the introduction but immediately preparing his defenses again. Nobles could only be trusted to look out for themselves. Their group worked so well because everyone was looking out for everyone else. <em>This new man might put that all at risk</em>.<br/><br/>“He helped us get the nightmare skull,” Keyleth smiled shyly at the man as she adjusted her antler circlet from where it had been jostled in combat. Vax looked the man over again, wondering if he’d truly been helping for altruistic reasons, or if there were some ulterior motive. Grog lumbered over, hearing the introduction and in a giant swooping motion scooped the white-haired man into his arms in a crushing hug. Having been on the receiving end of that bear hug on several occasions, Vax winced sympathetically, thinking of how his own ribs tended to crack ever so slightly under the pressure of Grog’s attempts at affection. <br/><br/>“Thanks new friend!” Grog beamed at Percival as he froze against the hug. Vax smiled to himself, turning away. Maybe the rich man would join their group, and maybe they would knock him down a few pegs. Besides, he was human. <em>Maybe he wouldn’t be as terrible…</em> He wasn’t entirely sure how the other team had found Percival, but that would be a story for later, when they would be deep in their cups in celebration. It was a good day, and the presence of a rich stranger wasn’t about to change that. He was among friends, and they had plenty to celebrate.</p>
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